Thunder only happens when it's raining
by zagadka4
Summary: When the Keeper was defeated, it seemed that life should start again with happiness and joy, but now Kahlan was feeling only woe and sadness. Along the way through home, things go awry for the Seeker and his band. They are forced to take paths that will bring them to face what future holds and deal with events from the past. Kahlan will find out that love has many sides and shapes.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

**I own nothing of Legend of The Seeker and this was written for enjoyment; certainly mine, hopefully yours.**

**A/N **

**First of all, my special thanks to Pallasphoenix, who kindly submitted in the hard task of betareading me. Thank you, your help is really precious to me!  
****I also want to thank the_girl_20 (whose C/K fics I'm in love with) who gave me one single advice which was the most important for me. May be nothing of this would have been written without her wise words.**

**This is my very first writing work; I'm an amateur among amateurs here. I've never thought myself as a writer, I'm mostly a reader. ****The fic is entirely based on the TV Series and I haven't read the books; so may be some things I invented in this fic could diverge from the Sword of Truth saga: I hope this doesn't bother anyone. ****I will surely appreciate whatever comment and review you will leave. Just, please, be gentle or you'll slam my newborn initiative to the ground.**

**The title of the Fic and of the chapters are all titles or verses taken from songs of my favorite band.**

**.**

**FIRST PART – DIASPORA**

**Chapter 1 – I keep my visions to myself**

**(Verse from the song "Dreams")**

At the exact moment the veil between the land of the living and the Underworld was repaired, she could sense it. She felt the heavy clouds fading away, leaving a clear blue sky and a bright sun to shine upon her skin, causing the hard knot that had dwelled in her chest for so long time to melt away, leaving a warm release. That awful feeling of death and cold darkness at last disappeared from her mind.

She, the great witch Shota, felt calm and quiet pouring down on her, after months of restlessness.

The Seeker had succeeded his mission; the old fool wizard had been right after all, by believing in his grandson and stubbornly insisting that Richard Cypher would fulfill his duty. All right, maybe he was not such a fool and, truth be told, she had been the one wrong. It turned out that her putting sticks in the Seeker's spokes were not such a good idea and certainly not the right way to reach her goals.

But in the end the prophecy came to pass, as she kept on repeating to the wizard's dull ears; only it happened in a way nobody expected. Prophecies always came true, without exception. The Creator herself sent them and they were written upon stone for a reason. Her visions instead were fickle messages; previews about things that could happen or that – with proper maneuver – could be avoided.

She had spent many years in her youth, trying to understand why those visions were sent just to her. She had finally managed to find out that the Creator deemed her worth to know and trusted her enough to act as she pleased with the precious information. Graced by this privilege, she had always done her best to use these messages and bend the events to her own advantage, strengthened by the fact that she had the trust of nothing less than the Creator.

That night her heart was lightened and a heavy dreamless sleep caught her fast. But that blissful moment didn't last.

The morning after a new vision dropped on her and left her full of horror and anguish, it was the worst message she had ever received. How could the whole world be in such danger yet again so suddenly?

After all her efforts thus, one single day of rest was her reward? Sometimes the Creator was a demanding employer. She began immediately to ponder what she could do to prevent the awful happenings to come, trying to find a weak link in the chain of fearful events to come.

And she found it, quite easily also.

That link was a child, a very peculiar child. And to save the world, this boy had to die.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – At your side**

**(Title of the song "At your side")**

The sun had set since a couple of candle marks and Darken Rahl was riding furiously on his steed, he was in a damn hurry to reach his destination as soon as he could. His mood was awful, having revised the events of the past days so many times, that his head had begun to ache.

Rahl found intriguing how the fate of a clever man could pass from dust to stars in a fistful of seconds, if that man was lucky enough to meet the right opportunities and bright enough to recognize the opportunities being handed to him. And he was that kind of man.

Darken would have preferred not to fall from grace. He liked plotting from inside his well-protected castle more than wielding a sword on the battlefield, a pleasure he was glad to leave to his brave little brother. But he could not deny how the early twist and turns of his destiny had thrilled him and fueled his want to win the prize. And his prize was to become more and more powerful, rule over the world and bend his foes on knees, and also his allies. He was not a kind of man contenting with little.

Recently the tyrant had come back to the world of the living, started gathering his Mord-Sith and the loyal branches of his army, skipped the threat of the Sisters of the Dark and avoided being killed from his brother, one more time. But he still felt he had a few chances to be back on the highness he was used to.

The spark of hope which lit when he found a lifeless Nicci in time to be revived from Mistress Zafire, became fast a flaming plan forming in his mind, when his intrepid brother repaired the veil. With the Keeper defeated and a new weapon in his hands, he was planning a way to regain his lost powers and rise over the lands he once owned, as the rightful Master. He had a couple of aces up his sleeves to reach his goals and the element of surprise, that was a primary requirement, was well-preserved.

Or so he thought until now, because somehow, something had gone very, very wrong. The key to his plans was a delicate good and this had been magically damaged and risked becoming broken and useless. Rahl had taken all the precautions to protect this unique little thing years ago and they had always worked properly until now, when he needed this tool the most. Darken didn't believed in coincidence and when he read in his journey book his tiny treasure was in danger, he immediately started pondering who could hide behind this attack.

The Sisters of the Dark were at the top of the list, as they possessed great magical power and the Keeper certainly wanted his revenge on Darken, craving to torture him in the Underworld. But, since he was actually in a state of vulnerability, it would have been more effective on their part attack him directly. Moreover it was unlikely that they knew about his secret resource.

The Seeker and his merry band were another possibility; the wizard could cast very powerful spells, but it seemed even more unlikely than the previous option. They didn't know his secret except… Cara. Since she had been _close_ to him in the past, she was aware of the existence of the little thing, but couldn't absolutely figure out how Rahl meant to use it. And he wasn't so sure she would agree to destroy the object, after all.

Plus his spies confirmed for him that Richard and his friends were on the route to Aydindril and he expected them to be foolishly basking in their victory and completely ignoring his current schemes.

Rahl frowned thinking on the whole Midlands celebrating their heroes. But when it came to revenge, he was an exceptionally patient man and no matter how much time it would take, he would slowly and sweetly savor his revenge, on all of them.

Especially on Cara. He took her and forged her into a steel fierce weapon, gave her pride and strength and the highest power among Mord-Sith. He made her great and covered her with honor and she repaid him with a betrayal, which led him directly into an uncomfortable grave. At the moment he was undecided which was the more appropriate punishment between having her killed by her friends, or force her to kill her friends then serve him in a humiliating life, crowned by a humiliating death. Whatever was the way, she had to pay for her treason, or other Mord-Sith could think that they had the possibility to choose which Master to follow.

.

"Lord Rahl." The thundering voice of Mistress Zafire, who was riding right in front of him, brought Rahl back from his reveries.

"What?" He barked irritated.

"Sisters of the Dark." She added grimly and fluttered her black braid, pointing her forefinger ahead to show him a group of three women in red, standing on their path. By this time Mord-Sith were already notching arrows, when one of the Sisters, with her veil on her face, took a step forward and spoke with her unarmed hands raised in surrender.

"We have no intention to attack; we are here to talk to Darken Rahl." The Sister reassured them, nodding to the Lord Rahl. The dark-haired man considered the situation for a fleeting moment, then ordered his red-clad warriors to lower their weapons.

"My Lord, are you sure? It could be a trap." Zafire asked anxiously, pinching her lips together and staring at her Master with worried dark blue eyes.

"I perfectly know that." He replied dryly. "But we largely outnumber them and their magic is useless against Mord-Sith. I'm curios to hear what they have to offer. But be wary, keep your guard up."

Zafire nodded briefly and halted her horse followed by her fellow companions. Darken dismounted and took some steps through the Sisters of the Dark, encircled by his protectors in leathers, then stopped ten paces away from the woman who spoke to him before. She looked at him and smiled gently as she began to speak.

"My name is Sister Amelia and we are here, on behalf of the Keeper, to propose a collaboration."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Summer sunshine**

**(Title of the song "Summer sunshine")**

The heat of the full summer was heaving down on the foursome, as they walked beneath the roasting sunshine; their only shelter that of the thick branches of the forest. But it was a poor cover at times and far from giving some sort of release from the hot that was affecting the lands the band was crossing.

Kahlan was particularly weak, since she hadn't still perked up, after being confessed and incurred in the longest Con Dar she had ever succumbed to. The Confessor was paler than usual and dark circles cut under her eyes. Her weakness was mostly the reason for their skipping villages, since people wished to celebrate the victory over the Keeper and the Mother Confessor didn't want to offend them refusing to share the feast.

Richard eyed a shady spot near a stream and suggested they stop for some respite and a meal; there were at least three candle marks before sunset, but they had no hurry and could indulge in a little more rest than they were used to. There were no more sudden banelings attacks, or Mord-Sith ambushes or Sisters of the Dark traps; at last the Midlands and D'Hara had turned into a safer place after the tear in the veil had been sealed.

This awareness lightened the mood of the companions day after day and the Seeker was doubtless the happiest man on the earth. He had fulfilled his mission and, at the same time, learnt he could be with the woman he loved without the risk of losing his will.

His only worry was about Kahlan's conditions, even if she kept on reassuring him she was alright and just needed time and maybe a soft bed to regain all her forces; moreover she wasn't used to this heat and she very much preferred the fresher Aydindril weather.

The group halted on the edge of the stream and Kahlan immediately sank to the ground, working to remove her boots and placing her bare feet in the cool water. She couldn't restrain a loud sigh of relief after doing so; Richard smiled widely looking at his lover and followed her example. When Zedd started to free his own feet, Cara - who was still standing - wrinkled her nose and declared:

"I'm going to hunt something."

Richard turned to her still smiling. "There is no need Cara, we still have some food left in our packs, from the last village's supplies."

But she remained perfectly still with her bow in her hands, hips canted and an impassive expression on her face.

"Really, I think we should all take a bit of rest, it's too hot to go on and to hunt too." He added.

"I don't need so much rest Lord Rahl and I think a satisfying meal could refresh us better than old bread and moldy cheese."

Zedd couldn't help but nod involuntarily in agreement. The description Cara gave of their imminent dinner was disappointing his stomach and, as usual, that was the organ who ruled his acts in first instance. Kahlan threw a rebuking glare to the wizard and replied gently:

"Please Cara sit here with us, the water is really pleasant."

"Don't worry Mother Confessor, it won't take a long to find something to eat." Then she looked at Zedd with her typical sarcastic grin on her face.

"When the wizard's belly will be filled, I will allow myself a footbath." With that she ran into the woods.

* * *

Since the day they arrived at Pillars of Creation Cara felt a strange sensation she couldn't name. She didn't want to think about it, but it was affecting her somehow and she needed to clear her mind from this confusion; that's why she caught every opportunity to be alone.

Many things happened that day and she was still elaborating them: the Mother Confessor was herself confessed and showed an irritating and utter devotion to Nicci. Cara had been hugely disturbed in seeing those loving blue eyes lying on someone else other than… Richard, her Lord Rahl, obviously.

She felt a stream of satisfaction when her arrow pierced that fucking sorceress straight in her throat, but then her heart clenched in her chest seeing the Confessor falling into the Con Dar, still under Nicci's control. She felt… frightened! Though she would never admit it aloud, she was scared that the Kahlan she knew could never come back, trapped in the spell of that damn bitch.

And that's the reason why she wasn't able to hit her with a second arrow… What if the Mother Confessor was hurt beyond reviving? What would have done Cara without Kahlan? She hesitated and immediately felt ashamed for that. The wizard babbled something about it not being weakness but strength… Life instead of death… Cara barely heard him while her ears were filled by the thundering of her heart and her eyes glued to the wild Confessor riding away.

But then Kahlan came back – not before stabbing poor Richard to the heart – but she came back. Cara was obviously concerned about her Lord, but honestly she cared more about the return of Kahlan in herself. And this was really unacceptable for a Mord-Sith, because her Lord Rahl should be above all the other people, without exception.

Cara felt ashamed again and she didn't like it: a shaming Mord-Sith is a failing Mord-Sith and a failing Mord-Sith is a dead Mord-Sith. But she was still alive after all and useful to revive Richard and grant him the chance to save the world and the chance to know he was immune to the confession. The wizard babbled again about love being stronger than any magic, blah blah blah… How could generations of Confessors miss discovering such a thing, was a mystery to Cara, but she couldn't care less. Also this time the blonde wasn't hearing him and could not help but stare at the passionate kiss Richard and Kahlan were sharing… and feeling ashamed for the third and hardest time.

Because she was jealous of her Lord Rahl.

She wanted bury herself under tons of ground but she couldn't… She wanted to run away forever, but she couldn't… She wanted to snap those two lovers apart and tug Kahlan hard and shout in her face that she… She… What? What was crossing Cara's mind? Or heart? She couldn't say… Nor she wouldn't. Never.

* * *

"Richard did you notice how Cara's acting stranger than usual?" Kahlan asked suddenly.

"Yes I did… since we left the Pillars she's more silent and musing."

"And seems she wants to be on her own as much as possible." She added. "I thought she would be happy to complete our quest, but something is bothering her."

Zedd approached with the woods he was sent to gather (this was his penalty, since it was his fault if Cara had an excuse to leave) and spoke with his wisdom:

"I think she's happy that the world is safe, but probably she needs room and time to become accustomed with the new settings."

"Which settings?" Richard asked raising an eyebrow.

"Mission is completed and with Rahl out of the game, war is over. She's a warrior, she needs a battle to fight and now she has none. I think she might feel confused."

"You are probably right." Richard muttered. "But I wish she'd be open with us about her worries."

"Just give her time. She's not used to talk about her feelings. But when she will be ready, she'll come to us." The wizard predicted with a soft smile, lighting the fire with his magic. Kahlan remained silent but kept on brooding about her bothered friend.

Zedd was certainly right, but the brunette suspected that there was something more; Kahlan was pretty sure that the blonde was avoiding her in particular. Recently the Mord-Sith always slept on her opposite side of the fire, always asked a watch that didn't match with hers, constantly walked the furthest from her and exchanged the minimum quantity of word with her. But most of all Cara wasn't looking directly in the Confessor's eyes any longer; only brief glances, then the blonde always lowered her look.

Kahlan thought she might have done something wrong to the red-clad woman, so she had increased her efforts to be kinder and at her side every time she could in the past days. But these attempts obtained the opposite result and Cara stiffened even more when the Confessor came along. It was an unnerving habit of Cara's, to hold her emotions tight inside, instead of expressing what was going wrong. But still she was her friend and Kahlan didn't want to see her worried, especially now that things began to move in a right way.

.

Cara returned with a plucked duck hanging on her belt and Zedd clapped his hands enthusiastically, taking his place at the fire to begin its cooking.

Kahlan was unsure how to behave or what to say so she opted for a warm smile, hoping the blonde would accept it. But Cara frowned and looked away toward Richard, who welcomed her:

"Everything all right out there?"

"Yes." The blonde replied flatly.

"It took you a little time."

"So it seems." Then she sat and started unlacing her boots without further words; this was Cara's way to tell she didn't want to talk any longer.

Richard was scanning her to see if she was actually all right, because her behavior was getting odder and odder: she looked in good condition even if her hair was quite messy and she was covered with a sheen of sweat. Then he looked closer and saw two red swollen punctures on her neck and asked:

"What's that? Are you hurt?" Pointing his finger to her; she raised a hand touching the spot Richard was indicating at and replied:

"These? It's nothing. Bees." Then she recalled something. "Oh, about that…"

She took her pack, rummaged in it and pulled out a little bundle, saying:

"Kahlan, it's for you." And the Mord-Sith threw the object to the brunette, who caught it with a puzzled look upon her face. "I found it during my hunt. Honey and royal jelly. Eat it all, it helps a lot in restoring."

Kahlan was completely confused… It was such a gentle gesture; maybe Cara wasn't angry with her after all. She faltered a whole-hearted: "Th-Thank you Cara."

The Mord-Sith glanced at her sideways with an annoyed look and muttered: "You're slowing us terribly. Maybe this will reinforce you and we'll arrive before growing as old as the wizard."

"I'm old, but my hearing still works perfectly!" Was the reproach sound coming from behind, where Zedd was busy with the food; Richard snickered and so did Kahlan.

The brunette smiled also inwardly because she knew that this was Cara's way to dismiss her kindness. But now she was sure that Cara wasn't holding anger towards her and felt relieved at this.

* * *

That night Kahlan kept on twisting on her bedroll, her mind unable to surrender to the needed slumber. She was feeling better after eating that stuff Cara gave her, thus she thought she had enough strength to face the matter hanging upon her since days. She decided to give up the fight and woke up. Cara was pacing the perimeter of their camp and looked at her with an interrogative face.

"You should sleep Confessor."

"I know but I need to…" Kahlan didn't end the sentence and reached for Richard who was soundly sleeping nearby. She shook him and he immediately woke looking at her with dull eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"No it's ok. Just I need to… talk to you… in private." And she threw a brief glance toward Cara.

He shook his head to shrug the sleep away and lifted up. They passed near Cara; he told the blonde they were taking a walk and she nodded in response with steady face, then they disappeared in the dark of the forest.

* * *

"A walk… sure… between her legs, I guess!"

Cara was pacing so furiously she was almost running, hands tightly gripped on both her Agiels and her heart hammering heavily. Everything happened exactly like the previous time, when the Confessor was split in two and deprived of her powers. Only that time she didn't care about what her Lord and the Confessor were about to do. Why she did now?

She had been wondering when this would have happened and was a little surprised that it took all those days, for the two lovebirds to retire in private, to share a deserved night of passion. She guessed that Kahlan's bad conditions were the foremost reason for such waiting. She stopped abruptly, trying to calm her nerves: breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out … damn it! She was going crazy.

She knew she had such difficulty in keeping herself in control, because her body was affected by the lacking of action: to feel good Mord-Sith needed pain or pleasure (or both) and the band hadn't met anyone to beat since the Pillars. The pain of her Agiels was far from effective.

At the moment, the only person with her was the snoring wizard, but he was completely useless for sparring, since she was immune to his magic and without that, he was nothing but an old skinny man. On the other side, Cara couldn't even think of him with passionate intention, even if he was the last man on earth. And thinking more about it, the wizard was probably since long time out of order down there… But why, in the name of the Creator, was she thinking about that part of the wizard?!

She was about to explode.

In these moments she really missed Leo. He had been a good sparring partner and a decent lover too. She came to care for him a little… A little more than a little and may be with time, she might also feel something deeper for him, but destiny chose differently and she had no regrets about this.

Suddenly she heard a rustle and the couple return in her sight.

"Have you already finished?" Cara asked sincerely astonished. They had been away for not more than half an hour… Between undressing and re-dressing it remained a very little time for the fun… _lacking of stamina Lord Rahl?_

"Yes" Richard simply answered, bringing Cara back to the present.

The Mord-Sith scanned the twosome: they had neither a satisfied face nor a frustrated one… And there were no leaves in their hair. Probably they had, actually, only talked. The blonde felt suddenly happy and began to smile like an idiot.

Richard looked confused at her, but didn't comment. He just told her to go to sleep, as it was his turn to watch. And so she did, lying near Kahlan struggling to get off that stupid smile she was wearing out, but without succeeding and falling in a fast welcome sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - What's there to see if I look closer?**

**(Verse from the song "Closer")**

Kahlan was feeling very well that morning. She had slept deeply all night after talking with Richard and now felt truly restored.

She was lightened as if a bulky weight was removed from her shoulders, since the moment she found the courage to talk to him about that intimate matter during the night. She had no experience in this topic and felt awfully shy about it, but she needed to clear things between them, because his gallantry was preventing him to start the conversation. So she took the bull by the horns and asked him to listen to her without interruption.

She told him – blushing copiously - she knew he was eager to… share a bed with her (he tried to say something, but she raised a finger reminding him of her request for silence, so he shut up) and she felt the same about him… very much… But, with all of herself, she wanted that particular moment to be… just perfect.

That's why she was asking him to wait a little longer, until she'd regain her full health and they'd reach Aydindril, where they could take advantage of much more comfortable accommodations - instead of a mattress of leaves - and an adequate privacy. Richard kissed her and hugged her tight, whispering in her ear he would wait until the end of the world to have her, if she asked him. He told he loved her with all of his heart and whatever she wanted him to do, he would do it for her, no matter what. They remained hugging for quite a while and she felt tears of joy linger in her lashes, while basking in his love. The picture was flawless except a little stain spoiling it…

It was a tiny mischievous voice inside Kahlan's head, telling her that, despite all the words about love supreme and perfection, she just wished for Richard to slam her on the ground right now and take her with all the burning passion she knew he was capable of, until he made her scream again and again, in waves of desire.

But he was gentle and he was a man: men do scrupulously and unquestioningly what they are ordered to, whereas women order one thing, expect it done as they instructed but, in the end, what they really want is the exact opposite of it. And Kahlan was doubtless a woman; a strong woman who didn't need to be constantly protected and handled in velvet gloves. Sometimes she needed something rougher. And Richard wasn't so. But the Confessor easily ignored this annoying tiny voice and held onto her true love.

Then they came back to the camp and found an unexpectedly cheerful Cara; the blonde seemed to be in an excellent mood and went sleeping by her side, which didn't happen since the Pillars. Kahlan didn't understand what made the Mord-Sith so well disposed, but was happy and hoped that the good mood would last for the following days.

* * *

The morning after Cara realized her feelings were unfair; being enthusiastic of her Lord Rahl's missed enjoyment was unacceptable. Ensuring her Master's satisfaction should be her duty and it was! But when it came with the Mother Confessor, Cara had difficulties in clearing her priorities. She didn't even notice, until morning, she had slept beside Kahlan, which she promised herself a time ago, not to do it any longer.

She needed to ease her mind with a little action to depurate her body from all the tension and nervousness. When during the daily walk she saw farms in the distance, she smiled inwardly, knowing she was going to achieve her aim.

She walked off from the others with an excuse and reached the nearest farm, where she eyed a young and strapping peasant who could help her with her disorders. Taking a woman would be unbearable now, because Cara knew she would think of another one all the time, bringing only further frustration.

She sneaked on his back and suddenly agieled him, making him scream like a slit-throated pig. She took her needed fun with the man (who was a little more than a boy) hurting him, but not too much since she needed him in good conditions to display a satisfying performance.

She threatened him both with her weapons and deadly glares, ordering him to rip his rags off and tasted his fear, seeing him crying and begging mercy. Then she toyed with him a little more smiling mischievously while she forced him to call her Mistress, to kneel in front of her and to begin masturbating himself. When she started undressing herself, the man turned even more terrorized, but glimpses of incredulity and excitement appeared on his face as well.

She jumped on his top and ordered him with the same threatening manner, to touch her here, knead there, lick down below and suck up above. After few minutes she stopped giving him instructions, as the man showed a certain creativeness in the play and she concentrated on her needs.

It turned out that the boy was quite experienced; she praised herself inwardly as she had always had a good eye in choosing prey. The hours they spent together were pleasant for both of them and in the end the simpleton insisted to thank her with supplies before she left.

She wanted very very much to kill him, because she was no whore to be paid after good sex! But she thought that Richard would be disappointed and supplies could be useful for her companions after all. Most of all she discarded the idea to kill him because, to her surprise, she recognized his gesture coming sincerely from the heart and not from disdain. So she decided to put aside her pride and took the gift, leaving without a word, but for a new bruise on his eye and a good tale the boy could share with his friends.

When she rejoined the Seeker's band she was fully in control and confident she could face Kahlan without losing her balance.

* * *

Zedd was admiring the beauty of the valley they were crossing: a succession of mild hills covered by thick emerald green grass, multicolored flying butterflies and a multitude of different kind of bright flowers filling the air with a light pleasant scent, which he was inhaling in great appreciation. Above in the sky rare lonely clouds were quietly floating in a warm shade of orange, as the sun was setting. The cheerful chirping of birds was the soundtrack of their steps in this corner of paradise. The only other noise he could hear was an annoying uninterrupted sniffing from the woman behind him, alternated with sneezing.

"Cara could you please try to restrain your rattling, it's really pesky and it's wasting this wonderful scenery." The wizard blurted unceremoniously.

"And this smell is wasting my mood." The blonde brusquely replied. "I told Richard to choose the other path, but you insisted with him to pass by this side and this is the result."

"How could we miss to enjoy this valley? It's one of the most beautiful places in this area and, as you can feel, the air here is fresher than before. It's a relief for all of us." He replied waving a hand all around to emphasize the magnificence of the place he brought them into.

"I have no problems with heat, but I have with flowers!" She retorted, sneezing immediately after.

Kahlan couldn't help but laughing at the little banter. She didn't like to see Cara distressed, but she couldn't deny the sight of the blonde constantly rubbing her reddened nose was priceless. The brunette wondered when Cara had become so dear to her. It wasn't so many months ago that she told the Mord-Sith those harsh words: _"I can never forgive you for what you did to my sister."_ and at that time she believed them, but now things were different.

The Confessor understood she had fully forgiven Cara when they were trapped in that tomb: the blonde opened her heart, admitting that she considered her a friend against all odds and Kahlan felt such a rush of affection for Cara that she couldn't restrain herself from hugging tight that surprising woman, the one she had come to trust with her life. In that gesture there was neither trace of grudge nor regret; they had simply faded away from the Confessor's heart. She felt an incredible heat in the blonde's body and the fast beat of her heart reverberating through her own chest; Kahlan was overwhelmed by these emotions, but then Cara pushed her away, lifted her Mord-Sith's mask back in place and they ended up fighting hard and nearly died asphyxiated, but still holding each other's hands. They survived only thanks Richard's last moment rescue.

After that night, Kahlan increased her friendly touches toward Cara and the blonde began to accept them without flinching or stiffening... at least until they saved the world.

Another sneeze brought Kahlan back to reality and the confessor took a small cloth and handed it to the red-clad woman. The brunette was half confident she would accept it, because Cara seemed more relaxed than the previous days, especially after her little escapade.

Nobody dared to ask the blonde where she went or what she did. Certainly not because they were afraid to embarrass Cara, rather they were afraid to be abashed by the crude frankness of her answers. Anyway the smug grin written upon the returning Mord-Sith's face, spoke volumes about the nature of her _urgent business_.

Cara took the cloth and blew her nose so loudly it echoed all over the valley; Zedd rolled his eyes, sighing in defeat.

.

"We should camp there for the night, the sun has set and it's darkening." Richard uttered, pointing a high clearing circled by a group of pines, in a position that granted both shelter and a good point of view for guarding. Once they reached the spot Kahlan glimpsed a field nearby, pointed with hundreds of white square stones. "Zedd what is that place?" She asked curiously.

The wizard turned his face to the place she was looking at and sighed "I didn't notice we were so near. It's the Unloved One's Field."

"Do you know that place? What are those stones spread on the ground?"

"It's a cemetery and those are tombstones. Children tombstones." He declared with a heavy tone, while Richard and Cara approached, looking at the place the other two were talking about.

Kahlan was stricken by the words of the wizard "Children…? All of them?"

The old man nodded silently and began his tale.

"It's an ancient story and few people know about it. Long ago, in this area laid an important and massive D'Harian fortress, from which the Rahl's House dominated all around the zone. But there was also a wide organization of rebels who wanted overthrow the imperial establishment, to tear loose these lands from the Rahl's claws. The war had dragged along for years then the oppressed found a way to turn the tables.

Among those rebels there were wizards and sorcerers who managed to cast a horrible curse on the whole land. All the children of the enemies got ill and could be healed only by a potion, obtained through a large quantity of blood, given willingly from one or both the parents. The aim was to turn away the soldiers from the battlefield and weaken them, preventing them to come back to war and giving the rebels the chance to take the fortress.

The Lord Rahl of that time sent order to keep on the war and gave instruction to intensify controls on deserters, who were immediately executed if found out. Many people tried to save their children, but most of them were prevented or too frightened and in the end boys and girls died, sending the army into a grieving fury. The D'Harian cruelly swept away the rebels, but in the chaos of the war the castle was raze to the ground, probably by both the rebels and the desperate soldiers, and this lands went abandoned.

All the children were buried here to remind all of the nonsense of war. But soon the memory faded away and now most people don't know about it. Wizards do, because of the exceptionality of the spell casted. It takes a great power to curse someone to death from far, without knowing the person or his exact position or without having a belonging of that person.

The tyranny was certainly unbearable, but those wizards made something horrible and condemned to death children of soldiers, generals, Mord-Sith, but also of squires, servants, cooks… people who had no fault in the madness of war."

Kahlan was impressed by the story and could only whisper "Such an awful destiny for those folks. War is unfair and those who pay the highest price, are always the innocent."

They all remained silent for a while than everybody turned to the usual setting camp tasks.

.

Later while sitting around the fire, Kahlan came up suddenly, looking toward Cara.

"Do Mord-Sith have kids?"

The Confessor had been thinking of this question since she heard that detail in the story Zedd shared with them before. Cara's heart skipped a beat and she winced imperceptibly, but immediately returned in control. The water Zedd was drinking went down wrong and he coughed loudly. When he regained composure, he glanced to the brunette with wide eyes admonishing her, surprised by her indelicacy.

"Kahlan!" The wizard blurted.

Kahlan flushed a little, seeing the indignant wizard's face and reciprocated his look.

"What? I was curious… You told it before…"

"I know what I told, but you already know the answer, we spoke about it." He replied.

Kahlan looked confused and shook her head. "No we didn't."

"Sure we did, don't you remember?" He insisted. "When Dahlia came after Cara."

"Who's Dahlia?" The harsh tone of Cara's voice let itself be heard for the first time, since the conversation began. She was suspicious and scowled sharpening the look, feeling the wizard was hiding something from her.

Zedd turned to Cara gaping and at last recalling he was the only one to remember what happened before he cast the Spell of Undoing. Dahlia never became a Mord-Sith and never came to search for Cara. Richard and Kahlan never knew that Cara had a son from Rahl and Cara… She never heard from Darken that he killed the baby the day he was born. She was probably still thinking the boy was alive somewhere…

"Wizard I placed you a question. Answer me." Her words echoed like adamant and Cara was still frowning at him, green eyes scanning deeply and mutely threatening.

Zedd came back himself and cleared his throat, then he lied. "Ehm... I was mistaken, I confused the conversations… We never talked about that. Dahlia is an old acquaintance of mine, who was enslaved by Mord-Sith for some time, long ago."

Cara upheld the look and wrinkled her eyebrows even further, but then she grunted and dropped the subject. The old man silently released a breath he didn't know he was holding; the blonde was his friend, but she still had the ability to startle him with only her deadly glares.

Richard noticed the tension and tried to ease the souls. "Have you eaten any persimmon along the way Zedd? You know they have a bad effect on you."

Kahlan chuckled and so did Zedd, shaking his head in denial, while Richard wore his typical true smile; Cara was still serious but quiet and added. "Probably the smell of all those flowers drugged your mind."

They remained silent for a while then Cara broke up, calling on Kahlan.

"Yes."

"What?" Asked confused the Confessor.

"Mord-Sith have kids. I hadn't answered before."

"Oh. I didn't want to sound nosy, I was just curios… it seems a little… odd, you know?" Kahlan pictured in her mind Cara with a very big womb, squeezed in her red leathers.

"Mord-Sith just procreate as most of the women in breeding age do, but this doesn't mean they become loving mothers, Confessor." Cara was speaking flatly and her eyes were glued to the fire in front of her.

"You mean they don't attend to the education of their children?"

"I mean that the children are torn apart at birth and the mother never sees them again. They belong to the Lord Rahl and are trained to enter in the Dragon Corps if male, or the ranks of Mord-Sith if female." Her voice raised a little and her cheek blushed, even though slightly.

"That's awful!" Kahlan exclaimed nearing to Cara, who immediately flinched and threw the briefest glance directly in the bright of her blue eyes. Then she sought the soothing ache of her Agiel.

"Do you really think a Mord-Sith would be a good mother? Educating a child with her Agiel? I guess it's better for those babies to be sent away."

"A mother would never hurt her baby, even if she's a Mord-Sith."

"You don't know us." Was the Cara's hard sentence in response.

"I know you and I'm sure you'd never do something like that." Kahlan insisted.

Cara kept on staring stubbornly the fire and remained silent, still holding tight her Agiel.

"You don't know me so well" She murmured, lowering her look from the fire to her belly which she slightly brushed with the tip of her index.

Zedd had stared at the blonde during all the talk and caught all the microscopic signs betraying her turmoil, but only to someone who already knew about her secret.

He needed to talk to her and tell her the gloomy truth about her son.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – When the daylight's gone and you're on your own**

**(Verse from the song "At your side")**

Cara was keeping the first watch as usual and sat by the fire, staring at the perpetual dance of the flames in front of her, hoping their warm charm could turn her mind away from the thoughts threatening to come to surface. She was confused enough with her current business and really didn't need to linger upon an irrelevant happening of the past, where it belonged and where Cara was trying hard to hold it chained.

But it was pointless and she knew it. Her mind was already wondering about him.

Her son.

She sighed a bitter laugh thinking she didn't even know his name, she knew nothing at all about him and saw him only once for a moment when he was born. If she didn't know this person, how comes she couldn't get him out of her mind? He meant nothing to her, he had no part in her life, but somehow she seemed incapable to forget completely about him.

Why?

Why couldn't she help but wonder where he was, if he was fine, if he was still alive…?

Her traitorous mind recalled his screams when he came to life: shrieks so loud to split the ears and his face all reddened in the effort to exclaim to the world he was alive. A big strong male with big strong lungs! She had felt so proud…

No, no, no!

She hadn't any feelings at that moment, neither later, when he was ripped from her arms the moment after he had rested his little lovely head on her breasts, calming down his screeches. She felt nothing. She didn't cry, she didn't beg, she didn't fight. She just bowed her head to her Master's will without regrets or complaint, because that was her duty and Mord-Sith live for duty.

What kind of a mother would act that way?

Cara shut her eyes tightly, strongly holding her hands on her Agiels, which recently seemed not to be working properly like they once did. The pain was not enough to erase that familiar bitter sense of guilt, dwelling somewhere low in her stomach, since the day she became mother. She was an emotionless Mord-Sith, she owed nothing to the child, the blonde kept on repeating herself. She had no choice in that matter, not even in getting pregnant.

It was a Darken's scheme and she never knew the reason nor dared to ask. He came to the Temple where she was serving after skipping an attempt to his life in Ravensberg, where his trusted general Egremont saved him by a hair's breadth. Lord Rahl asked his wizard Giller to magically inspect Cara and then ordered her to his chambers. Repeatedly.

It was not the first time and the blonde didn't question her Master's will, rather she did her best to please her beloved Lord. After a little time she began to feel different, she wasn't fully in control of her body and when the nausea and retching made their appearance, she understood why.

She thought she had disappointed her Master and was expecting a punishment, certainly abortion, may be even her death, because he often used to bed with several Mord-Sith, but Cara never heard of anyone else getting pregnant from him. Between Sisters of the Agiel it was said that he used magical precautions.

But he didn't order any of these things; he came back to the People's Palace without even seeing her and left no punishing instruction for her, so she carried the baby until his birth, when he was taken and she never saw him again, or heard anything about him.

.

The fire was almost out, she had run over her memories and time had passed without she noticed. She added a log to the fire and kicked Zedd to wake him for his watch. It was an unusual turn for the wizard, who generally preferred to go to sleep with chickens and wake up in early morning, but he insisted with Richard and was granted.

Zedd woke up with his hair all tangled and the dullest face she'd ever seen upon him; deep wrinkles pictured the map of a long life in his features and dark circles underlining his eyes revealed his tiredness. But he lifted immediately and stretched in all his considerable length, then shook vigorously and looked at her intensely.

"I need to talk to you Cara." He opened with a husky voice.

"Is it really necessary?" She was craving a respite from her broodings and had no itch to talk right now, or in other moments, to tell truth.

"Yes Cara it is an important personal matter."

"And you want to talk about your personal matters with me?" She asked surprised.

"It's not about me, it's about you." This was even more surprising to her.

"Since we are already talking, go on. Spit it out" She snorted rolling her eyes.

He had thought a lot about how to say this thing and in the end found that direct truth was the better option, so he simply declared:

"I know you had a son fathered by Darken Rahl."

Her jaw dropped. She had a glimpse of suspect that the wizard knew something more than he showed, when he rambled nonsense about speeches that never happened and of people never heard of before. But she would never imagine he knew about the child.

She faltered a "How…?"

"It's a long story and if you wish I will tell it to you. But how I know it's unimportant and nobody knows except me." He tilted his head toward the two sleeping forms, lying by the fire.

Cara pondered a little and decided she had no interest in knowing how Zedd learnt about the boy. But he seemed to have more to say about the subject so she pressed him:

"Go on."

"I wish there was a less painful way to tell it, but there isn't." He closed his eyes inhaling deeply and then continued.

"Cara I've heard directly from Darken's mouth that he killed the baby the day he was born."

The blonde's eyes widened and she gasped loudly.

"I am so sorry Cara." He hurried to add, placing a hand on her shoulder, but she flinched shaking his hand off.

"Don't be! The boy meant nothing to me." Her voice was hoarse and she clenched her jaw after speaking.

"As you wish, Cara. But I'm here for you. We all are here for you and if you need a shoulder to cry upo-"

"I don't need anything from you or anyone else, wizard! Much less need to cry." She snapped, but her voice sounded on the verge of cracking and both them noticed it. Zedd remained silent for a moment then he spoke.

"I didn't mean to offend you. I just want you to know that I understand if you are shocked… I lost a daughter not too long a time ago. It was hard on me and to have someone caring around, helped me to move ahead." He was speaking softly, trying to convey all his comprehension in his words.

"I don't hold anything against you. But I just don't' want to talk about this neither now, nor never."

She had regained part of her composure and was now talking more calmly, but the ache in her voice was still lingering. After a while she added in rough tone:

"Richard and Kahlan must never know about this, is that understood?"

"You have my word, I will bring the secret to my grave Cara. But consider that they care for you and if they learnt about this, they would certainly try to help you."

"And that is exactly what I want to avoid: unrequested helping gestures, pointless pity, sorrowful looks and unnerving patting hands. I can perfectly manage this on my own."

"It's your choice Cara and I respect it." He answered with a tinge of sadness for the pointless proud stubbornness of his friend.

She was obstinately avoiding his eyes, lost in the pain coming from her chest, instead of her hands firmly tightening her weapons. For a minute the Mord-Sith remained perfectly still, gritting her teeth and watching an undefined point over the tree line, but in the end she blurted out:

"Why?"

"…What?"

"Did Rahl tell you why he killed the child?"

Zedd remembered the cold and poisonous words Darken spoke in the torturing room, where Cara was dangling in chains and from which he could hear the conversation, captured and rada–hanned in a dungeon on his own.

"He said he didn't want the boy to grow up and dare to challenge him."

But if that were so, why had he tried so hard to have a son with her? Because this is what he did, Cara thought. Perhaps the boy wasn't matching his father's expectations, so the latter got rid of him without a second thought.

Cara went to her bedroll without spilling other words and Zedd sighed for the sad weight he had placed on his friend's shoulder.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – If you cannot find what road to choose**

**(Verse from the song "At your side")**

Darken Rahl was sitting on his chair and stroking his bear with his thumb - a gesture he used when his brain was processing his schemes - while his ice blue eyes were staring at the cover of the closed journey book lying on his desk; his mind passing the happening of the previous days.

The Sisters of the Dark came to him to place an offer from the Keeper: he wanted Darken Rahl to pursue his race to the power, otherwise peace and prosperity would be spread all over D'Hara and the Midlands, whereas the Lord of the Underworld was craving death and despair to flow on the world of the living. The Keeper was willing to grant clemency to Rahl, if the latter committed to supplying souls as he used to do when he was his attendant, but without being enslaved as a baneling.

Darken didn't trust the Sisters of the Dark at all: he knew the Keeper wasn't easy to offer forgiveness, so he didn't fully understand why the Lord of the Underworld wanted to grant him this alliance. This offer sounded tricky to his suspicious ears.

But the Spirits knew how much he needed a magic helping hand at this moment! He had the chance to gather only some Mord-Sith and soldiers to reinforce his ranks, but he had no magic in his current body and no sorcerer at his side. And to repair his little secret resource, he needed magic and the Keeper evidently knew it.

To show a sign of goodwill, Sister Amelia offered herself to follow Rahl and his Mord-Sith, alone and wearing a Rada-Han. After pondering about it, Darken picked up the offer and granted the red veiled woman to ride behind him; he ordered Mistress Zafire to glue herself to this Amelia and never set her eyes off of this unreliable woman. The stakes were too high thus, at the minimum suspect she had to kill her without hesitation.

.

Sister Amelia dashed in the room unannounced, fluttering her gown in a red flash and concealing her face behind her veil.

Rahl found this woman utterly unnerving: she was always restless, moving too much and too fast, her shrill voice was always too loud and, so far, had only spoken bad news. He would have gladly strangled her, if he hadn't such need of her help. Behind this woman leaned Zafire, following the Sister like a shadow. The Mord-Sith received an inflamed glare from her Master, for letting this intruder enter that way in his office and the black haired woman instantly knew that a punishment was in agenda for her, that night.

"Lord Rahl I've completed the protection spell. Whatever spell will be casted against your tiny treasure from now on, will bump back to the sender." Amelia was moving her arms in wide circles to picture the shield she had just set.

"Very well, Sister Amelia. Have you any news about how to fix the treasure?" He asked, remaining perfectly still in a low and flat tone, mutely inviting her to avoid all that gesticulating.

"I've already told how to fix it. There are no other ways beside that. And you have to speed up, it's growing worse and worse. _He_ won't last long" She was now pacing fast, back and forth from his seat.

"And I have told you that the way you suggested is impossible. My current body is not my own and my blood is not the Rahl's blood. That's why I'm deprived of my magic and I'm forced to bear your presence here." He replied drily, without bothering to conceal his disappointment.

"Then you have to apply to your counterpart and persuade her to help you. There aren't other options."

"I don't' know where exactly my counterpart – as you call her – is, but certainly miles away from here. And even if I found her, she will never accept to help me. And you told me the donation must be willing or it won't work." Now he was truly disturbed by this annoying woman, he found as useful as a holed bucket.

"Ah this is funny! Master Rahl the king of intrigues and blackmails is unable to _convince,_" She quoted the air with her fingers, "a woman to do as he wish? I deemed you much more worthy."

"Don't you dare to scoff me, you damned flunky!" He shouted, raising in all his height and slamming furiously his hands on the desk.

"Why don't you put a little more of this energy you're proudly showing, in searching a solution and less in enraging uselessly?" She was almost laughing in his face; his sight was reddening from anger. She went on without even noticing his reaction.

Her voice drifted cold and she ceased whatever gesture, slender arms dangling on her sides. "Bring me a belonging of your counterpart and I'll manage to find her. My sisters and I can render her harmless, but how to convince her to do as you wish, that's your business."

It was nearly unnatural to see this creature changing so suddenly, as if two different people coexisted in the same body. Darken Rahl growled, flaring air from his nostrils. She didn't wait his permission to leave and stormed away just the same as she had rushed in.

* * *

Richard was walking beside Zedd and couldn't help but notice how his grandfather looked old and exhausted; the Seeker thought himself he should have better denied the night watch the wizard had so insistently asked for. The younger man tried to relieve the hoary one.

"We will reach a village in a couple of days. Then we'll take some horses and hopefully will arrive soon and safe to Aydindril."

"Yes I'm truly looking forward getting home; I begin to feel sick of all this travelling. All my old bones are creaking and my stomach requires a more respectful treatment!" His tone was light and he smiled warmly despite his tiredness. Richard smiled in return but a shadow passed upon his features and the smile faded fast.

"Is there anything wrong my boy?"

"No it's nothing… it's just… I was thinking about the story you told us yesterday."

"How does that old sad tale have to do with our homecoming?" Richard clenched his jaw and his face turned serious, while he was staring at the wizard's face.

"Because Aydindril is not my home." He uttered seriously. "I'm the last Rahl alive and the people of D'Hara need someone to hold the reins of the country. If I don't claim that title, other pretending dictator may do it and other barbarity would fall upon that already troubled land. Other slaughters like the one you told us about, could happen. As Rahl and as Seeker I have responsibility toward those people."

"You are very noble Richard and what you say, makes me proud of you." Zedd placed a hand upon the shorter man, squeezing it in an encouraging gesture. He would never get used to the spontaneous selflessness Richard never stopped showing.

The Seeker dropped his eyes to the ground and Zedd felt there were further thoughts bothering his grandson.

"I guess it's hard on you. You have duties in D'Hara while Kahlan belongs to Aydindril and it could be difficult for you, but you must trust in the strength of your love and you'll find the way to be happy together."

"I believe in our love and I think we'll manage to stay together somehow, may be it will take time, but we will." Richard stated with hope in his voice. "There are other things I'm not so sure I'll be capable to do."

"Richard you have defeated the Keeper, I can't figure something you couldn't do or someone you couldn't beat." The wizard was widely smiling.

"I can" He whispered sadly and after a while stared directly into Zedd's orbs. "It's me."

"I don't understand you."

"Zedd you know me since I was born, I'm a woodsman. After you named me the Seeker I became a warrior, may be even a leader. But I'm not a king, I'm not a politician, I don't know anything about court etiquette or international diplomacy and all the other things concerning the ruling of a country. I think I could raise the Sword of Truth, claim the throne and take the leading of D'Hara, but I have really no idea how I could actually govern that land. George Cypher raised me as an honest and simple man, I'm not measured up to become," The Seeker hesitated for a heartbeat, before proclaiming with a slight incredulity the title, "Master of D'Hara."

"I think George Cypher gave you all the required instruction to be a good king. What did he use to tell you when you were at a crossroad and you didn't know what road to choose?"

"He always told me to follow my heart." Richard answered with a tinge of sadness, remembering the departed man he considered his father.

"And this is exactly all you need to do to rule rightfully a country."

"And what if my heart was failing?" Richard's voice sounded full of anxiety, nearly anguished.

"Richard I don't recognize you. Why are you so doubtful? You weren't so unsure two weeks ago, you always believed in yourself above all, what happened then?"

The Seeker loudly sighed and his head dropped, eyes fixed on his feet and ears reddened suddenly, then he faltered:

"I-I placed the Stone of Tears directly in the hands of the Keeper."

"Well, he was disguised, you didn't do that voluntarily. How can you blame yourself for that?"

Richard felt heat rising on him. "And how can you _not_ blame me for that?" He hissed. "I was perfectly aware of the prophecy, but the Keeper tricked me as if I was a dummy kid. I've been stupid and reckless. I risked to doom all the living to death, because of my innate faith in neighbor and need to help every person who crosses my path smiling at me, or seems distressed, or is just blinking long lashes trough me." Richard was no longer sad, now he was angry.

"You resemble Cara!" The wizard blurted to the younger man.

"Well, maybe she is the only one seeing things for what they truly are!"

"Richard your compassion is not a limitation and is the foremost reason for which I chose you to be the True Seeker." He replied in an offended tone, feeling how the young man's words were betraying most of the teachings the wizard had spoken him so far.

"If you decide to rule a country with detached coldness and heartlessly, where's the difference between you and Darken Rahl?"

Richard perceived he had crossed the line and returned sad.

"And this is the other problem I have… I still have difficulties in dealing with my rage. It blinds me and brings me to think things I would normally not think. Please Zedd excuse me."

The older man saw how Richard was weighed by responsibilities he never asked for, nor never was prepared to deal with, and felt fondness for him. The Seeker was intrepid and strong, but couldn't bring all this on his shoulders alone.

"Richard I promise you I will always be by your side and will do whatever I can to help you, in this difficult road you're bravely choosing to undertake. You know you can always rely on me."

"You mean you would come with me to D'Hara after we'll reach Aydindril and return Kahlan to the Confessors Palace?" Richard asked tentatively, slightly shameful of his begging tone.

"I'm not leaving you at all. Creator knows what mess you could arrange, if left alone." The old man replied with a wide smile.

Richard looked gratefully at Zedd and smiled warmly, his eyes almost glistening at the helping hand his grandfather was offering him. Then he hugged briefly but tightly the wizard, whispering "Thank you Zedd."

"You're welcome. But now please stop talking nonsense or you'll savor my own anger!"

They both laughed at the pretending treat Zedd was casting.

* * *

Cara felt the burning eyes of the Mother Confessor on her back, piercing her with the same intensity, as if she was using her daggers. The Mord-Sith had returned silent and brooding after talking with Zedd that night and knew this was drawing Kahlan's attentions, because the brunette just couldn't help but snoop around the other people's businesses.

It was the Mother Confessor's nature: ensure that everybody was alright and, if not so, to do something even if nobody asked her anything. Many people used to say this was kindness and generosity, but to Cara this was exclusively nuisance.

Kahlan stepped on her side and tried to approach the Mord-Sith.

"Is there something wrong with you today?"

Cara turned to her with a definitely annoyed look and shrugged, without bothering to reply.

"Cara, your tongue wouldn't get paralyzed if you'd talk more than four words per day, you know!" The brunette insisted, a hint of temper in her voice.

The blonde kept on looking ahead and retorted: "Yeah. That would be a great loss for the whole of womankind."

Kahlan blinked four times without catching the quip, or perhaps without believing the lewdness she thought she had caught in the quip.

Cara turned to her with a malicious smirk on her face, but the naive confusion on the features of the Mother Confessor made it fade away and she puffed, rolling her eyes.

"Nevermind Kahlan. You are definitely too chaste for my skilled tongue." Cara didn't want to tease her, but double meanings came out from her mouth so naturally, she didn't even notice. And this time Kahlan caught it perfectly and became as red as Cara's leathers, slowing her pace and letting the Mord-Sith and her obscenities go on.

Zedd reached the brunette and told her muffling that Cara had a bad time sleeping during the night, thus wasn't probably in the mood for a talk and likely easily irritable. That corresponded to a "DO NOT DISTURB" poster hanging on Cara's back and Kahlan desisted from her purpose to dig in the Mord-Sith's mind.

Cara threw a thanking glance the wizard for this and thought she had to thank him also for the information he shared with her that night.

She hadn't slept at all after the talking and kept on thinking about those words. In the end she came to the conclusion that the death of her son was for his best; it spared him from a life of never ending sufferings. Not that she cared about his sufferings, but she preferred to know he was now in a better place than in some Dragons Fort.

She sighed… who did she think she was fooling? Herself? She had to be honest to herself, no matter what. She cared about his sufferings and hoped his death was quick and painless.

She… cared. Something she wouldn't do some months ago. What happened to her?

Mord-Sith don't care, don't thank, they don't apologize and don't shame… but she did all these things since she joined Richard in his quest.

Cara never had doubts she did the right thing choosing to follow Richard instead of Darken Rahl and now she was completely devoted to the former. He was the true Lord Rahl, but it was more than this. He was the first to trust her honestly and unquestioningly. He put himself between her and Kahlan, his beloved, to defend the blonde from a rightful death sentence. He was the first to accept her, treating her as a person and not as a tool or a monster. He taught the Mord-Sith respect for herself and for the others.

So she owed him a lot and she cared for him, not only because he was her Lord, but also because he was… _her friend_ even if she would never admit it aloud. Though all these things, she was now realizing how joining Richard was slowly turning her away from being a true Mord-Sith and this was unpleasant because Cara liked to be a Mord-Sith.

To be strong and powerful, focused and efficient, reliable and loyal, skilled and indomitable.

Such qualities were needed to her Master, serving who was the only purpose in a Mord-Sith's life. But now she was evolving into something different, a soft creature with feelings and weaknesses. She didn't want to change, she was comfortable in her fortress of coldness and detachment, where nobody could reach and harm her. Kahlan… she came around and touched her heart somehow and Cara felt vulnerable, frail, defenseless… she definitely didn't like it.

How could she adequately serve her Master in such terms? And if not serving her Master, which purpose would have her life? Her own happiness?! Such a foolish idea… She didn't even know what feeling happy meant. Her life was to protect and watch over Richard, nothing but this.

When she was by Darken's side it was simpler. She never placed so many questions to herself all at once, never bothered to ask herself if things were right or wrong, because her Lord decided it and she had only to obey; now she was feeling a sort of nostalgia for this easiness. However, she would never ever go back: her former Lord was nothing but an evil selfish bastard. But she had no idea to where she was going hereafter and Cara didn't like not being in control.

And didn't like the terrible headache she was having now, for thinking so much… and it was all on Kahlan's stinging eyes fault!

Cara needed to be firm on her certainties and this meant one thing: focus herself exclusively on her Lord Rahl and put distance between all the others.

* * *

That night, while sitting in their camp, Richard announced to his group he wanted to talk about the plans he had about the immediate future. He looked through Kahlan inbreathed deeply and began:

"After we'll reach Aydindril I'll stay with you, but soon I'll need to leave again and head to D'Hara."

Kahlan expected this decision; they both knew Richard had responsibility toward the land of the Rahl's. But nonetheless it made her sad and listening to this issue spoken aloud, made it somehow more real and near. It was painful to think about that; since the moment they met, they parted for long time only once, when Richard went to the Prophet's Palace to learn handling his Han.

"I understand it Richard and I would never prevent you from your duty." She was trying to smile at him but the result was a crooked grin, far from the beaming features she used to reward him with. "Believe me, nobody knows what duties mean, more than me." She added to sound more convincing.

Richard got close to her and spoke sweetly "I promise you I'll come back to you as soon as I can. I just can't leave D'Hara on the verge of the chaos. There will be a lot to do to restore order, but Zedd has decided to come with me to help me."

"And prevent our boy from messing around." The wizard added in a light tone, seeing how cloudy Kahlan's eyes were turning.

The Seeker cleared his throat, turned to the Mord-Sith and went on.

"Cara you are free to go wherever you want. You owe me nothing and I want you to choose freely your path." Richard talked seriously, because he expected Cara to stubbornly insisting in serving him, as her Master. Indeed he was right.

"I will go where you want me to go, Richard." _At least she called me by name and not by title_, he thought.

"I want you to do what you prefer." He insisted.

"And I prefer to do what you want me to."

"Creator, this is pointless!"

"You are embarking in a difficult journey Richard and I think there are tasks you could commit me, which I'm eager to receive." Cara was unmoving in her reasoning and confident that the Seeker needed her by his side, since he had a whole country to set.

"You're right. Very well, since Zedd will come with me to D'Hara, I want you to stay in Aydindril to watch over Kahlan."

"What?!" Cara was utterly bewildered.

"I told I want you-"

"I've heard what you said, but it's a nonsense request."

"I need someone to protect Kahlan and I guess there's nobody better than you."

"My duty is by _your_ side, not hers." She said pointing her thumb toward the Confessor avoiding to turn to her "And I don't think she'll need my protection, while sheltered by her massive castle and encircled by the whole Home Guard."

"Darken Rahl is still around, hiding somewhere and I don't want run any risk leaving Kahlan easy prey of his plans."

"NO."

"Cara please-"

"Which part of 'NO' isn't clear, Lord Rahl?"

"You told me you would do what I want you to, but now that I've placed an order, you oppose to it?"

"Because it's stupid!" She shrilled. Richard thought that Cara was over reacting in her objection and had no idea of the reason.

"So what you suggest to do? Where do you want to go?" the exasperated Seeker felt a spark of anger beginning to light inside him, but made his mind up to blow it out.

"I want to come with you to D'Hara."

_Was it so difficult to say, you hardheaded Mord-Sith?_ Richard thought to himself, but bit his tongue.

"And why should I take you with me?" Now he was teasing her, playing a dangerous game with her pride.

"Because you need me more than you need Zedd. I know every territory in D'Hara and most of the Generals of the Rahl's army. I can introduce you to the secrets of the People's Palace and deal with the mores and tradition of that court. I can treat with Mord-Sith, admitted there are still some around and not already on Darken's side. D'Harans will accept you more easily if they'll see a Mord-Sith with you. Most of them don't consider you as the rightful Master Rahl and when the voices telling Darken is still alive will flow, many enemies will rise against you and you'll need a more than a couple of trustable eyes to watch your back."

The threesomes were perplexed, after hearing what was probably the longest tirade the blonde had ever talked. The most confused was Richard, since Cara was touching sensitive spots in his schemes and he had to admit that she would have been exceptionally useful to his purposes. But he didn't want give her satisfaction.

"D'Harans and Mord-Sith won't trust you since you betrayed your former Master to follow me. I need to gain trust and allies, and establish a council that can govern the country on my behalf."

Cara was astonished "Are you out of your mind?! If you really think that D'Hara can be held by a council, then you're misleading yourself. Those people need a leader who guides them with an iron hand; they will never accept anything else."

"I can always try Cara, people can change."

"But not so fast Richard, it's absurd." She almost yelled.

Then Cara remained silent for a while, staring intensely at her Master's eyes, understanding her words didn't convince him, so she added:

"Ok, let's pretend you create a council, who will you name in it? Is there anyone you trust in D'Hara?"

"I don't know…" His confidence began to crumble under his feet.

"Let me guess: you'll choose someone letting your heart guide you?" She insisted, using a biting tone in her words "We both know you tend to give trust very easily, don't you? You always let your emotions drive your actions, but you'll soon have to learn how leading means also accept compromises and sometimes they are… displeasing. I had experience in this matter while I was under Rahl's command."

Richard was now knitting deeply his eyebrows and his fists were balled with white knuckles on his lap. It seemed Cara knew exactly where his weaknesses were and hit him right there, mercilessly.

"Let me help you Richard, let me do what I'm best at. I can temper your goodness and keep my guard up, when you lower yours." Her voice was now almost gentle and she sounded truly concerned.

"If you'll deem me worthy, I could hold the regency while you are in the Midlands with the Mother Confessor." Cara blushed a little after those words and respectfully bowed her head, in a feeble attempt to mitigate her previous insolent boldness.

"Richard I think that Cara is perfectly right, she should leave and follow you in D'Hara." Kahlan's voice echoed loud and steeled by an unusual coldness. It was the Mother Confessor's voice speaking and she sounded more giving an order, than providing an advice.

Richard turned through her and found her face hard and impassive; pale skin and dark locks framing striking bright blue eyes, behind which he guessed troubled waters. He knew her well enough to recognize she was very angry, but also distraught. May be the thought of their imminent parting was affecting her in this way. He would investigate about it after.

Also Cara looked at Kahlan and perceived her rage, but more than this she felt disturbed by her words. The Mord-Sith wanted to put distance between her and Kahlan, because it was getting too hard on her, to pretend not to feel what she was feeling for the brunette. But she didn't expected Kahlan fervently wishing to send her away with such cool detachment. It was for the best of all them, but nonetheless it hurt Cara to see Kahlan agreeing in the arrangement like that.

"All right, then it is settled. Cara you will come with me in D'Hara, while Zedd, you will stay in Aydindril with Kahlan." Richard sentenced dryly, closing the speech.

.

**A/N**

**Hi guys,  
****I know I've been beating around the bush with this story so far, but I ensure you from the next chapter the wheels will at last begin to turn.  
****So hold on and don't give up following the Thunder. I promise you I'll do my best to truly entertain you!  
****A lot of premises mean a lot of consequences…!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - When life defies you, I'll be the soul, you'll never go astray**

**(Verse from the song "Make you mine")**

Kahlan was not mad.

She was furious.

Who did those two think they were, to talk about her, Kahlan Amnell Mother Confessor, Queen of Aydindril, the highest authority of the Midlands, that way? They spoke like she was transparent and deaf. She was so astonished she remained gaping and attended dumb to all their silly spat.

Richard was talking about her like she was a porcelain doll, too fragile and precious to be even touched. Did he forget she had lived and fought for her life before meeting him? That she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, just like she had done so far? That _she_ was the one meant to protect him and not vice versa? This tendency he had, to be over protective was turning unnerving and she had to tell him one thing or two about it.

But more than Richard, Cara was the one who made her infuriated. When Richard ordered the Mord-Sith to stay with Kahlan, the former reacted with pure disgust: it seemed that the mere idea to spend time with the Confessor horrified the blonde and filled her with contempt. Cara was literally offended and reacted attacking Richard with such vehemence, that the man was taken aback.

Kahlan wasn't bothered by the fact Cara preferred to be on Richard's side, it was easy to understand that the Mord-Sith wished to protect her Lord above all. But the disdain she showed toward the Confessor was honestly unfair and unacceptable.

Cara was, matter of factly, holding something against Kahlan, who didn't know which price she'd be willing to pay to know what was passing through that mule head. What the brunette was no longer willing to endure, was to be walked over the blonde like that. She tried to talk to Cara, to be kind at her, tried to give her space and time, to be patient and comprehensive, but none of this attempts achieved any result and now the Confessor was really sick of all this absurd avoiding her and pretending she didn't exist from Cara. Kahlan had been sure they had long since overtaken their conflicts; she thought they were friends, but evidently she was wrong.

If Cara wanted to keep on playing this fool game, it worked fine! Kahlan was going to repay her with the same coin of indifference. And if Cara didn't want the brunette on her way, well there was no problem, from now on they could mutually ignore each other.

But even if she was doing her best to convince herself this was the best thing to do, Kahlan couldn't help but keep on feeling a bitter clutch on her guts and a deep lump on her throat, every time she laid her eyes on Cara.

That stupid, idiot, hard-hearted, Cara.

* * *

That morning Zedd woke up and found his three companions already awake and busy on lonely tasks. Richard was sharpening his sword; Kahlan was gathering bedrolls while Cara was some paces away picking some berries for breakfast. All of them had the longest faces the wizard had ever seen on their features; he was himself a little disturbed by the quickness with which Richard discarded his helping offer, to turn to the one Cara placed him.

The Mord-Sith convinced Richard dragging out all his insecurity with such confidence, the old man could nearly suspect she heard the speech he had with his grandson the morning before, hadn't he seen her all the time at least thirty paces away from them. Anyway Richard was now firm on his decision and arguing further with him was pointless, but Zedd was planning to stop in Aydindril for some time and then reach the People's Palace to reinforce the Seeker's ranks. If Cara wanted to temper Richard's _goodness_, then Zedd would try to temper the Mord-Sith's _roughness_.

Therefore the wizard was guessing Richard's upset, but didn't instead understand why the women seemed so stiff and sulky at each other.

When Cara returned with some fruits in her hands, Kahlan didn't even lift her eyes and spoke any word; the same with the red-clad woman. This was quite usual from Cara, but really unlikely from the gentle and constantly smiling Confessor. Zedd thought he should say a word about this to Richard, but also the brown haired man himself looked few inclined to get involved in intricate female matters; he had enough to ponder about his own business, so Zedd decided to leave the subject at the moment.

They ate the fruits in complete silence and packed all their belongings.

"I'm going to fill the water skins." Cara uttered, addressing to no one in particular and walking away.

Richard was checking the map to choose the route, but after some minutes raised his head realizing that Cara wasn't still returning and nothing announced her coming back.

"Kahlan stay here with Zedd, I'll come back with Cara." And he began to lift.

Kahlan felt Richard was acting again over courteous, and decided not to submit herself to this silly treatment, so she halted him placing a hand on his shoulder and answering flatly:

"No Richard, stay here and go on with the map. I'll find Cara."

The moment after she blamed her impulsivity and bit her tongue, but now it was late and she had no wish to explain the men, why she was not so eager to be alone with Cara.

.

The brunette walked for a couple of minutes then saw Cara in the distance, standing still on her back at the edge of the stream with water skins already filled in her hands, arms dangling on her sides. Her shoulders were sagged and her head dropped on her chest. To Kahlan she looked completely forlorn and her grudge turned into sad compassion in the blink of an eye. The Mother Confessor wasn't meant to be a rancorous person after all.

She felt the urge to see Cara's beautiful sea-green eyes to make sure she was ok, to establish a connection with her and confirm it was not too late to return close to each other; Kahlan wanted help the blonde to untie whatever knot was hidden inside her. She couldn't say if such need was for Cara's sake or for her own.

"Cara." She called while walking through her and fastening her pace to reach her, the pressure to get in touch with her increasing.

The blonde began to turn around to face Kahlan, who was impatient to meet those elusive eyes which the Confessor now realized she had missed so much in the past days. They were nothing but five paces away from each other and only a light curtain of blonde hair strands were preventing the brunette from diving into her friend's eyes, but suddenly she felt a prickling running all over her spine and bringing goose bumps on base of her neck.

Then everything got blinded.

White.

All around her a wet thick white curtain dropped and Kahlan could see anything else farther then her nose.

"Cara." She cried again, this time a hint of concern was in her voice. No reply came in return.

She moved some steps forward, where the Mord-Sith was supposed to be and began fumbling her arms trying to touch something, but nothing was there to be touched.

"CARA." She yelled for the third time and angst was clearly audible in her tone, but also this time the complete silence was the only answer. Kahlan was now panic-stricken, sweat was trickling from her forehead and rumbling beats were echoing in her chest.

She turned on every side to catch even the glimpse of something around, but the only thing to be seen was that damn white fog. She stopped inhaling deeply and closing her eyes to clear her mind, while she tried to focus on the situation. She tried to hear the noises around her but there was no sound at all… the stream should be a few paces from her, but the water wasn't gurgling; birds were chirping just few moments ago and now there was none to be heard. This fog was likely magic and prevented sight and heard, Khalan thought. Probably Cara was closer to her than she was expecting, but she could not see or hear her.

With her eyes still shut, Kahlan tried to sniff the air, in the attempt to get any scent around her, hoping that at least the smell was granted. She smelled inhaling deeply and tried to concentrate: beyond the wetness of the fog she sensed… underbrush, damped leaves... something like juniper… or maybe rosemary… and…a light leather essence!

She opened wide her eyes and perceived the slightest pink blur in front of her.

The Confessor threw a hand toward this color and grabbed something. She recognized the fabric under her skin: leather! She grasped more firmly her hand, feeling that the leathers were moving to wrench her away and pulled with all her strength through herself, until she had an unconcealed Cara stumbling onto her.

"Cara it's me, Kahlan!" She shouted shaking Cara on her shoulders, planting her eyes in the blonde's and expecting to relieve her and to be soothed herself after being reunited. But Cara wasn't relieved at all, her features were freaked out and those beautiful eyes Kahlan was so eager to see, were widened in shock.

"Cara what's wrong? Are you hurt?" The brunette screamed pulling Cara closer to her and squeezing her more tightly, as if loosening her grip on the blonde would make her disappear in the mist and never let her be found again. Cara was still gaping soundlessly.

"Cara you're worrying me, answer please!" The Mord-Sith seemed at last to come back to reality and returned the look with whom Kahlan was agitatedly hitting her. Then she stuttered hesitantly:

"K-Kahlan… my Agiels…"

"What?"

"My Agiels are working any longer… Richard… he must be dead."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – When he's not around**

**(Title of the song "When he's not around")**

Now Kahlan was the one gaping and speechless. Richard…

She had forgotten about him in the past minutes, worrying about Cara and now he could be dead. How was it possible? She left him only few moments ago…

She turned, always gripping Cara's arm trying to find which way she came from, but in the thick fog it was impossible. So she began to shout her lover's name, but she already knew it was pointless. Cara hadn't heard her screams standing two steps away from her, how could Richard catch her voice, as far as he was?

Cara grabbed Kahlan and gazed her directly in her eyes, a gesture she carefully avoided in the past days, fearing the Confessor could read her and learn things about her, she herself didn't still fully understand. But now Kahlan needed her and she never hesitated in putting Kahlan's life and needs before hers; it was a natural instinct for the Mord-Sith.

"Kahlan stop now!" The blonde ordered. The Confessor fussed a little longer, but in the end, did what Cara was asking and the latter went on.

"Whatever happened to them, we're going to find it out. We're gonna find them Kahlan. Now please trust me and don't leave my hand."

After saying so, the Mord-Sith took Kahlan's right hand and entwined it with hers, squeezing tight, never ceasing to stare back at the Confessor, fighting hard to convey a certainty she didn't have, in her eyes. The shaken brunette nodded and replied the grasp on Cara's hand by squeezing slightly, feeling how this bond between their limbs was giving her strength. Cara was giving her that strength. Cara was the rock upon which she relied every time she felt like crumbling sand.

The resolute Mord-Sith began to walk in wary steps; Kahlan had no idea how she could manage to find a route, but the blonde had always had ways to surprise her and she trusted her completely. Indeed Cara guided her into the clearing where they had made camp. Here the fog was less heavy and they could see within a range of some meters, but there was no trace of the men. Cara left Kahlan's hand to kneel on the ground searching tracks and the brunette restrained a little whimper from her throat at the loss of contact that was giving her such needed certainty.

Suddenly they heard a soft noise coming from the distance. It was a sort of whining and it was increasing in volume, getting closer and closer. Both looked around to find the direction from which the sound came, until they recognized it and turn their heads to each other, speaking simultaneously: "Sisters of the Dark!" Weapons already unsheathed.

They jumped back to back just in time, before red tunics fluttered and Dakras filled the air all around them, while the Sisters of the Dark attacked. There were many of them, at least a dozen, but Cara couldn't say exactly, it wasn't possible to see clearly between the fog and the confusion of the fray.

Kahlan lowered, stabbing deep with the dagger in her right hand the thigh of her first foe and lifted immediately, planting her left elbow in the ribs of another Sister who was trying to hit Cara, then the Confessor spun around and slit her throat. Cara was kicking hard to the knees of an opponent approaching Kahlan, pushing the Sister off balance and slammed her Agiel on her chest, but the expected scream of agony didn't come. She recalled her Agiels were no longer offensive, so the Mord-Sith grabbed the woman's head and snapped it quickly, then rolled aside to dodge the slash from another red-veiled woman holding the Dakra hissing a hair breadth upon her head. The Mord-Sith took advantage of the motion of the sorceress to punch her in her belly; the woman bent forward, giving Cara the chance to smash with her knee right in the face.

After a minute of fighting Kahlan saw she had beaten four Sisters and looked towards Cara seeing only two bodies at her companion's feet; this was unusual and the Confessor remembered Cara's weapon weren't working, therefore called the Mord-Sith and threw one of her daggers to the blonde, hoping she was clever enough to put her pride aside and accept the helping offer, at least as long as the battle was lasting. Cara was and caught the flying dagger, briskly nodding with a smirk to Kahlan.

With only one dagger in her hand now, the brunette kept on in the battle and grabbed the exposed throat of a red dressed woman advancing toward her and released her power. But her power didn't work… No confession flooded through her fingers. She had been so worried about the whole situation she didn't realize the lacking of her magic; she was just as powerless as Cara.

But maybe this meant Cara's Agiels weren't working because of a spell, likely this damn fog, preventing her own magic as well… may be Richard was still alive!

The enemy she was grabbing, profited of her hesitation, freed from the Confessor's grip and threw her Dakra to strike Kahlan's chest; the latter moved fast and skipped the deadly slash, but went harmed on her upper arm. Cara turned to her immediately and threw her dagger to the opponent attacking Kahlan, hitting the Sister's side. The sorceress brought a hand to the bleeding wound and backed, followed by her two surviving Sisters and they all fled away as fast as they could.

Cara stormed over to Kahlan with a concerned look in her eyes. "Are you hurt?"

"It's just a scratch."

The blonde frowned and took a step closer. "Last time you told me so, I had to cauterize your wound with my Agiel." She carefully grabbed Kahlan's arm. "Though I'd really enjoy repeating the ministration, my weapons are currently out of order. Let me check your arm properly."

Cara remembered that night, when she used her Agiel on Kahlan. By that time she was seeing mostly the annoying part of the Confessor and inflicting on her a little pain, moreover with her permission, had definitely been amusing. Cara also remembered that the cornerstone of her respect and admiration toward the Mother Confessor was placed that night, when she saw the tenacity with which Kahlan dealt the pain and the stubbornness in challenging the Mord-Sith, showing her she was tough enough to face her Agiel.

Cara returned her focusing on the present and looked at Kahlan's arm in her hands, gently examining the wound: it wasn't severe, but quite deep and bleeding copiously. It needed to be cleaned and wrapped.

"We need to move away from here, they could come back. We'll find a shelter and then we'll tend to your arm properly." Cara declared seriously.

Kahlan nodded and the blonde wrapped the wound in a tight bandage, so that the bleeding could diminish. Then they stood up and Kahlan took Cara's hand in her own, to move connected as they did before; the Mord-Sith stiffened, but after a moment relaxed her captured hand in Kahlan's, even if refusing to entangle their fingers like they did before.

Kahlan said nothing about it then they moved.

* * *

"Zedd I can't believe there is nothing we can do to escape this trap." Richard was bustling as if he had a mouse in his underpants.

"Believe me my son, if there was anything we could do to rejoin to our ladies, I would do it, but there isn't."

"But this… Magic Maze… how comes you can't break it?"

"Because it prevents all the magic trapped in it to work, as I told you at least one hundred times in the past five minutes!"

"Kahlan is without her Confessor powers and Cara without her Mord-Sith's ones…"

"…And I'm without my magic and the Sword of Truth is nothing but a sword." the Wizard completed the sentence he had already spoken several times so far.

"Zedd, wait a moment… Cara!" Richard face enlightened "She's a Mord-Sith, she deflects magic. Her powers must be working!"

"Unfortunately no, Richard. This is a peculiar strong spell and is not casted onto someone, but to an area and who enters in such loses magic. Cara cannot deflect the spell because she is not the direct target."

"So we'll stay here and wait until someone attacks us or them?"

"We are not staying Richard, we are moving and this is the only thing we can do. The Maze has limits; it can't be cast for miles and miles. If we find the edge of it, we might try to escape and search a way to help Cara and Kahlan. But over this, there's nothing we can do." Zedd omitted to tell Richard that even this attempt was really feeble, because the Maze was built to confuse orientation and it was nearly impossible to find the edge.

"We can look for them." Richard insisted; he didn't want to give up the hope to find Kahlan and Cara.

"Richard I understand you want to make sure your lover and your friend are fine, I want that too, but this spell is created expressly to split people and manage to prevent them to rejoin. We could pass just near them and not see or hear them. The word Maze should suggest something to you."

"And what if they are attacked?"

"They are big strong girls, my boy and will give a hard time to their eventual attackers, who will be deprived of their magic too."

"But is there anything else we can do?"

Zedd sighed completely exasperated by his grandson's childish behavior. Anyway he couldn't help but share the same concern (even if he was dealing it with a little more maturity). So he answered sincerely:

"We can pray Creator to keep them safe."

* * *

Sitting in the cave they found, Kahlan was hissing loudly while Cara was cleaning her cut on the upper arm with a small cloth: it was awfully painful. Removing her jacket before, made her nearly faint and her sight got blurred for some seconds. Probably the considerable amount of blood she shed weakened her more than she expected.

The Mord-Sith was paying the highest attention to be soft, but it wasn't working out very well. Thus Cara tried to distract Kahlan from the aching someway.

"What happened before with that Sister of the Dark?" The blonde asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You had her in your hands, but you didn't confess her."

"I tried, but it didn't work. I guess both our powers aren't working in this fog."

"And when were you planning to make me aware of such thing?!" Cara blurted.

"I-I'm sorry Cara, I forgot… in the confusion…" Kahlan slurred.

"It's all right don't worry. And stay quiet, it isn't yet done." The Mord-Sith took a salve from her pack and began to move soothing circles on the cut. The brunette felt a refreshing relief but the burning sensation never ceased.

"I think Richard could be alive… I mean, if the fog is the reason of the lacking of magic, then your connection with him might be only suspended and not broken." Hope was brimming over the Confessor's words.

"You could be right." The blonde reasoned pensively. "But I don't like this at all. I'm supposed to deflect magic, while this is affecting me just as it does to you."

"Yes, we are vulnerable." Kahlan stated with hints of concern, but optimistic anyway, since she had Cara on her side.

"And I have lost one of your daggers." The blonde blamed herself.

"As soon as we get out of here, you owe me a new dagger, you're warned Mord-Sith!" Kahlan smiled warmly, while casting the fake threat.

"I always pay my debts, Confessor." Cara replied, picking up the joke with a beautiful smirk, whereas she completed the wrapping task tightening the bandage knot abruptly and making Kahlan whimper.

Cara didn't know if she had to be happy or afraid that she was alone with a powerless Kahlan. She knew she had to worry about it for more reasons than she was willing to admit, but she couldn't help but feel merry. She suspected the fight they had before, touched her more she could expect. Taking part to a clash with Kahlan was something priceless for the Mord-Sith and she hadn't been aware until now, how much she missed a battle side by side with the Confessor.

It was electrifying how they matched each other and how perfect was the deadly dance they danced together. In the fight Kahlan was fierce and brutal and unstoppable and stunning… Cara was betting she had the same attitudes in bed and she would be more than glad to taste the experience in first person.

And after the battle Kahlan was literally arousing: eyes shined by the thrill, sweat covered, locks and strands ruffled and her panting chest rising and falling fast, bringing the brunette's gorgeous breasts on the brink of popping up from her corset…

Cara shook her head hard: thinking like that wasn't helpful and brought ache to her mind and wetting needs to the center between her legs. A fight was probably the most intimate act with Kahlan she could ever aspire to, the musing blonde thought with a sad sigh.

"Are you still on earth Cara?"

"What?" the Mord-Sith realized too late she was daydreaming.

"You had a dreamy face, what were you thinking about? I heard you sigh." Kahlan was wearing her confidant smile.

"Nothing at all!" The blonde barked, turning her face away from those beaming stars, gracing Kahlan's perfect face and hoping her grumpy attitude could spare her the assault about to arrive.

Absolutely pointless, since Kahlan perceived her friend closing again in her shell of peevishness, but perfectly guessed it was a self-defense strategy. The brunette thought this was a perfect moment to confront with the Mord-Sith and try at last, to uncork her buried turmoil.

"Cara we need to talk."

The red-clad woman heard this sentence from Kahlan more times she cared to remember in the past months and every time her reaction was the same: "Spirits, no! I don't think I can endure this now."

"You're a Mord-Sith. There is nothing you cannot endure." She teased her.

"Yeah, except the Mother Confessor's inquisition." Cara retorted.

"We have nothing better to do. So why don't you begin to tell me the reason why you've been skipping me in the past two weeks? Did I do something wrong to you? Because if so, I apologize, but I really can't figure out what could I have done and if you don't give me a clue-"

"Please stop this rambling!" Cara blurted raising her palms toward Kahlan. "You're about deliver me the hardest headache of my life."

The blonde recalled her previous words about Kahlan: fierce and brutal and unstoppable and stunning… but now she withdrew the last word, substituting with pest!

"Cara, listen to me, I know you… care for me… in your way… and I know it's not only because Richard told you to. If it wasn't for you, I would be still stuck in the fog by the stream. So, if you're holding something against me, please tell me. You're driving me really crazy."

The Mord-Sith was surprised by this admission and felt disturbed by the sadness in Kahlan's words; she didn't like to see the Confessor distressed. She was so much more beautiful when she smiled…

"I'm not holding anything against you Kahlan, I swear." She answered sincerely, looking at Kahlan.

The Confessor smiled relieved; the woman in front of her was honorable and would never swear a lie. "So, since this point is cleared, tell me what's wrong with you."

Cara rolled her eyes exasperated, but already aware that the brunette wasn't willing to drop this subject… and Kahlan dared to call her stubborn!

"I cannot tell… I.. I'm Mord-Sith!" The blonde declared, sure this would explain whatever difficulty she had in taking out words from her mouth. The brunette didn't seem convinced at all and kept on staring Cara shaking slightly her head, implicitly meaning this was far from enough for her.

"Kahlan you know I'm not talkative… I have those thoughts in my mind and… now I'm not ready to share them with anyone. It's hard on me… Mord-Sith training, you know…"

"Don't be ashamed Cara, you can tell me. Whatever it is, I won't judge you." The brunette pressed her with a sweet comprehensive smile. The blonde huffed inwardly: the Mother Confessor was really harassing!

"I promise I'll tell you, when I'll feel ready to." Cara clamorously lied. She was honorable sure, but she had to protect herself. Kahlan kept on staring her, unsure whether insist further with her questions. But after a while she seemed satisfied by the blonde's promise and remained silent.

After some minutes, when Cara felt confident the interrogation was over, Kahlan re-opened the discussion.

"Why were you so bothered by the idea to stay with me in Aydindril?" The blonde regretted the comfortable chains and whips of the Mord-Sith's temple; they would be much less torturing than this. But she managed to find an adequate answer.

"You mean the most brilliant idea Lord Rahl has ever had? The Mother Confessor giving hospitality to a Mord-Sith in the capital of the Midlands. Very appropriate! What do you think your people would think about that? About you?"

"Aydindril is my home and you're my close friend. There will always be a place for you in my house. My people will accept it." A serious Kahlan stated firmly.

"And will your sister do the same?" Cara knew she was touching a sensitive spot and was willing to dig the knife in the wound, to break free from this trap.

Kahlan gaped… Dennee…

She hadn't thought about her sister. Certainly Cara's presence would not be pleasant for her, to use a euphemism. It would be a full handed slap in her little sister's face, force her to live under the same roof with the woman who killed her and made her kill her son.

The blonde couldn't resist from teasing the Confessor "Never mind, it doesn't matter. If I recall correctly, you were looking forward getting rid of me, sending me to D'Hara, didn't you?"

Kahlan blushed widely in her cheeks: she had felt angered with the other woman thinking the blonde was mistreating her, while the truth was that the Mord-Sith was unexpectedly trying to prevent her from a contrast with her sister. The Confessor realized she had behaved like a spoiled teenager, whereas Cara had put Kahlan's safety and heart in first place.

"I'm sorry I reacted that way." She murmured lowering her look in full shame. After a while she added "I hope you will feel more at ease in your home, at the People's Palace with Richard."

"That's not my home at all Kahlan. I have no home."

This was a mere statement from the battle hardened Mord-Sith, without any hint of sadness. Nonetheless Kahlan felt a deep sorrow as she read the truth in it. Cara had no place to belong to. She suddenly hugged the blonde. Tightly.

She knew Cara wasn't comfortable with these touches but Kahlan didn't care: she felt the urge to show her how much she cared for her.

"But you'll always have your friends Cara. And I will miss you to death, when we'll part." Kahlan whispered whole heartedly in the other woman's ear.

The Mord-Sith was taken aback and after a moment of bewilderment she let herself go and returned the hold with the same tightness, burying her face in the hollow of Kahlan's neck, deeply inhaling the other woman's intoxicating scent. The blonde hadn't acknowledged how much she needed this soothing contact until it came and now she hadn't the will to escape from it. Cara felt her heart drumming throughout her chest and blood flooding wildly in her veins. The words the other woman spoke made her stomach flutter. She knew she would be feeling the same for the brunette, but it was inadmissible for her to tell it aloud.

They remained that way for some silent minutes. Unexpectedly, Kahlan was the first to part; she tucked a lock of golden hair behind Cara's ear then cupped her face stroking her cheek with a thumb. The Confessor was staring at the blonde with her amazing bright blue eyes and a stunningly warm smile. Cara was mesmerized by her charming beauty, unable to break the eye contact and by now uncaring about what Kahlan could read in her.

Then the brunette got close and dared to place a sweet kiss on the blonde's silky cheek. Kahlan had never ventured so far in her confidences with the other woman, but now this seemed so natural, so needed…

Cara stiffened a little, overwhelmed by the softness of those lips, which haunted her every night, but didn't find the strength to flinch. Kahlan backed just a little, then came back to kiss the corner of Cara's mouth, this time she lingered a little longer. The Confessor felt so good in this nearness with the blonde, so right...

The Mord-Sith was now completely trembling and her eyes were closed, too afraid to move even a finger. Kahlan backed a little again and Cara tilted her head even if slightly, so that their noses brushed and the blonde dared to part her eyelids, just to see Kahlan coming back to her and planting a feather-like pressure on her lips.

Cara was used to kisses and this was doubtlessly the most chaste she had ever received, but it lit in her a burning desire she had never felt before… This was too much, even for the tough Mord-Sith. Her will broke in an instant and she began to part her lips purposing to devour Kahlan's mouth with firing kisses. She raised her hands to hold the brunette and press her against her body, but grabbed Kahlan's wounded arm and the Confessor flinched, screaming in pain and shaking off Cara's hold.

"I-I'm sorry Kahlan… I didn't mean to-"

"It's all right Cara… I know… I shouldn't…" Kahlan was struggling to elaborate a sentence, but failed, as the pain in her arm was blinding her completely. The cut had re-opened and Kahlan was bleeding again, the bandage already soaked.

Cara tended to her in an awkward silence.

They spoke any longer for the rest of the day, except the moment they went to sleep, when Kahlan whispered a "Goodnight Cara." to her friend, but her wish remained unanswered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Looking in the eyes of love**

**(Title of the song "Looking in the eyes of love")**

The morning after Kahlan emerged slowly from a deep dreamless slumber, feeling a dull pulse in her head. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Suddenly she was pierced by a sharp excruciating pain coming from her arm and spreading all over her body in waves of fire. She remained completely still a couple of minutes waiting the rush of shock to calm down, breathing heavily. She felt dizzy and a slight nausea was clenching her stomach. She slowly sat on her bedroll paying the highest attention at her movements and saw Cara already awake, busying herself with packing their equipment in silence, wearing her usual unreadable face.

The brunette thought she needed to apologize to the other woman for what she did the previous day; she didn't know why she acted like that… she wasn't thinking, she just… did it. But she made Cara upset, to the point that the blonde pushed the Confessor away, closing herself again in her shell, right in the moment things were returning clear between them. Kahlan felt so stupid.

But she had such a headache she wasn't able to face this issue now.

"You look awful." Cara was now staring at her.

"Good morning to you too, Cara." Kahlan replied with a wary little smile, combing her tangled hair with a hand, in the futile attempt to improve her appearance. Cara approached her in fast strides, slipped off a glove and placed a bare hand on the other woman's forehead. It was cold and made Kahlan shiver.

"You're burning." The Mord-Sith stated flatly.

"I'm fine." Kahlan lied.

"Confessor you can tell truth from falsehood, but you're a terrible liar." Cara retorted annoyed.

"It doesn't matter how I feel. We need to move and find Richard and Zedd. He will heal me."

Cara nodded silently, forgetting that also the wizard was probably without powers.

Kahlan struggled to eat something, but could swallow nothing but a little slice of apple; instead she gulped wide sips of water to soothe her throat, which she felt as arid as the desert. Cara was watching her with hints of concern in her eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Before leaving we need to check your arm." Cara stated pulling out a new bandage and the soothing salve from her pack. Kahlan sat and stretched her arm to Cara, preparing herself to the obvious pain about to follow.

Cara used the slightest touches and halted every time it seemed to be too much for Kahlan to endure, but even so it was a devastating ache. Kahlan tried her best to stay still, but failed and kept on sucking air in search of release.

When Cara finished unwrapping the arm, she gasped. The wound was much worse than she expected. The rims of the skin were dark red, the cut awfully swollen and filled with pus pouring from it, with streams of blood; it smelled rotten. The upper arm was terribly hot and veins were visible under the reddened skin, up to the shoulder. A simple infection could not turn so bad in such short time. The blade must have been poisoned. _Screw you, Sisters of the Dark!_

"I-It is so bad?" Kahlan stammered.

"We need to find the wizard." Cara declared with gloomy voice.

* * *

They walked all day long but, even with all her skills, Cara wasn't able to find the slightest trace of Richard and Zedd. The fog was always hanging upon them, some places heavier, some places lighter, but their powers were always prevented.

Kahlan was getting worse and worse, her pace slowed down, sweat was trickling widely and her breath was quick and labored. She was trying her best to hold on, but was completely worn out and the constant pain from her arm gave her no respite.

Cara also was trying her best not to look worried and to encourage the Confessor to go on, but inside she was anguished… Kahlan would not survive the next night if they didn't find something to heal her. If only they could exit from this bubble of anti-magic, she could grant Kahlan her Breath of Life, but this damn trap seemed never ending.

.

Other candle marks passed and suddenly Kahlan stumbled on her own feet and crumbled to the ground half unconscious. Cara rushed to her and lifted her head. Another big piece of her already eroded confidence drifted away, when she felt how limp Kahlan's body was, as if she hadn't any ounce of strength left. As if the Confessor's will was the only thing keeping her upright and now even that was ran out. Only a miracle could save her, but Cara didn't believe in miracles at all.

"Leave me here." Kahlan's voice was the ghost of a whisper, her face paler than ever.

"You won't get the rid of me so easily, Mother Confessor." Cara tried to pursue her lips in an attempt to a smirk, but failed.

"I-I can't make it any longer…"

"Then I'll make it for you." Cara answered, unwilling to let the worry overcome both of them. She enveloped Kahlan in her arms and lifted her without effort; the brunette rested her head on her friend's shoulder and closed her eyes, relaxing in the firm and soothing grip of the strong Mord-Sith. She felt safe inside this embrace and before her conscious drifted away, she murmured underneath her breath:

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Confessor, just… hold on, ok? I'll get you out of here." But Kahlan lacked the energy and the heart to tell her she knew it was a lie.

* * *

It was dark as the sun had set since several candle marks, Cara was exhausted but kept on walking, the last tiny spark of hope was still alive, at least until she could feel Kahlan's chest rising and falling against hers, even if so slightly. Between darkness and fog she was barely seeing where she put her feet, but even if she could see better, trees, bushes and rocks were the only things her eyes could meet.

Kahlan writhed in her arms and coughed a little. Cara laid her on a grass carpet, with the same delicacy as if she was made of crystal and leant the brunette's head on her lap. The blonde tucked a sweat wetted wisp of hair from Khalan's temple and brought a water skin to her lips, but the brunette took only a small sip.

"Please Kahlan, you have to drink a little more."

The brunette felt a sting in her heart, hearing her proud friend pleading; something Cara wasn't used to doing. She strived and took another bit of water, just to reward the blonde for her feat. Cara placed her hand on the back of Kahlan's and squeezed it slightly to show she appreciated the effort; the lying woman answered the squeeze, but her hold was nearly imperceptible.

After a minute spent in gathering forces, Kahlan weakly spoke:

"Cara I'm sorry for yesterday…"

"Save your breath Kahlan. Nothing happened." The blonde wouldn't exactly assess what happened as _nothing_, but she couldn't allow herself to indulge in pointless illusions. Kahlan tried to add something, but Cara silenced her:

"You're a Confessor, no? Confessors hug. And kiss. I'll survive."

"But I won't." The Confessor muttered with sorrow.

Cara's heart squeaked. They both knew it, but telling aloud made it unbearable. Cara refused to deny the statement: she had too much respect toward Kahlan to pretend further the brunette could see the next day.

"Cara I need you to promise me-"

"NO. Whatever you want me to do, you'll do it on your own when we'll get out of here." She spoke more harshly than she wished, but rage was flooding throughout her. And also despair. She had respect toward Kahlan, but really couldn't figure out the next day without her.

"… promise me you'll find Richard and protect him and watch over him… and console him…"

_And who will console me if you leave?_

"Kahlan if you… leave… nothing in the world will ever console him, you know that?" Streaks of distress were already appearing in the Mord-Sith's voice.

"You must help him to go on." The Confessor insisted, ignoring Cara's objections.

"You're asking me the moon…"

A_nd Creator knows I would bring it to you if I could… if that would heal you._

Kahlan shut her eyes and twitched her white lips, as a pang ran through her chest. Cara felt tears in her eyes but choked them back, she had to be strong. Kahlan breathed again and read the concern in her friend's orbs.

"I-It is not so bad… I almost do not feel pain anymore…" But that wasn't a good sign at all, Cara thought. Kahlan went on with her requests.

"You'll tell my sister now she is the Mother Confessor. Tell her I love her with all my heart."

_And if I'm lucky, she will confess me, so this torment will come to end._

"You'll tell Richard I love him, like I've never loved anyone and one day we will reunite. He'll have to be strong and brave, but I trust him. I've always trusted him."

Tears were brimming again on Cara's eyes and after a first one found a path to slip off of her lashes, others followed. Her throat, dried by a sore lump, and her trembling lips were trying to prevent her from speaking, but she managed to croak another desperate pleading:

"Please Kahlan, don't surrender..."

"It's not how I wanted it to end, but I'm happy you're with me Cara… I love you too." And she tightened her hand into the Mord-Sith's. More tears travelled the path dug in the blonde's cheeks; Cara was now incapable of refraining the sobs which struck her so loud that her chest jolted on and on.

"Thank you for allowing me to be your friend Cara. It was one of the highest honors of my life."

_Stop it! Stop breaking my heart! Please Kahlan…_

"Please Kahlan don't leave… me." She murmured in utter affliction.

The very first ray of sunlight of that day cut the fog and stroked the two women, lighting the spot where they were sharing their heartbreaking farewell. Cara's face was kissed by a golden aura that made her seem to glow in the shadows surrounding them. Kahlan looked at her friend in all her glorious beauty and couldn't resist the temptation to capture her sea-green eyes into her clear blue ones. She dived herself completely in the blonde's soul, no more shielded from her Mord-Sith's barriers, defenses completely lowered.

And what she read left her totally shocked. It was something so unthinkable, so impossible… Cara was…was…

But it was the truth.

Kahlan's blue eyes widened, she wanted to ask so many things and listen to so many explanations, but her heart just refused to carry on any longer. With a last feeble beat, it surrendered to the inevitable then everything turned black.

At the moment the Mother Confessor's pure heart ceased beating, the Mord-Sith's tainted heart shattered in thousands pieces.

Kahlan Amnell was dead.

.

**A/N**

**hi guys,  
just to warn you: humorous hints are temporarily over.  
did you like them anyway? please let me know, leave a review!  
angsty times have come.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Only love can break your heart**

**(Title from the song "Only love can break your heart")**

Cara's heart was tumbling down, beating out of her chest and nobody could tell when and whether it would ever stop from the fall. Or whether the Mord-Sith would ever find it again. But if Cara somehow found her heart and managed to put it back in her chest, it would never be the same. The blonde's heart was broken beyond repair; the void left from Kahlan would bleed until its last beat. Cara felt her body suddenly weaken, as if somebody had stabbed a hole in her soul and poured her spirit away, leaving a hollow shell kneeling there, at the feet of Kahlan's lifeless body. With their hands still holding in each other, the Mord-Sith stared blankly at the perfect face of the woman who came to mean everything, _everything_ to her. Cara was incapable of comprehending that those eyelids would never open again, unveiling the blue sapphires she admired so much, the sparkling orbs she would give anything to see just one more time.

No more shining gazes or warm smiles… no more soft touches… no more fighting side by side… no more teasing banters or mushy lessons about feelings and emotions… no more… Kahlan. A pang of emptiness ripped through her heart as Cara slowly grasped that Kahlan was really dead, that _this_ all wasn't some insane fever dream. How could _this_ have happened? Cara was still stunned and her mind still processing the past minutes, not believing _this_ had just happened.

Cara used to say she had great endurance for pain, but she had been a fool. What she had ever suffered was nothing compared to the wretchedness she was feeling now. She was gasping, her ears were ringing loud as if her eardrums were about to split from the pressure of her blood, pounding like a hammer to an anvil. Her eyes had turned dry because with Kahlan gone, where was the sense in crying? To whom should she show her feelings, her humanity?

Should she have shown Kahlan what she felt for her? No, it was absurd. The Mord-Sith would only get the result of offending her Lord Rahl and very likely be despised by the Confessor, maybe even scorned by her. She would only lose her, at least as a friend.

_Well, Cara, now you've lost her anyway. It's too late for regrets._

Below the pain she felt enraged with Kahlan: she didn't care about the things the other woman asked her to do. She owed nothing to her, since the Confessor had the bright idea to do something so senseless and insensitive like dying in her arms, leaving her completely alone. Breaking her heart.

Well, Cara hadn't promised anything at all. It was typical from the Mother Confessor: babbling orders, without even taking a moment to see if she was heard or understood, confident that everyone was more than eager to do her bidding. How could Kahlan expect her to tell Richard of the Confessor's death? To confess to him she failed Kahlan, failed him, just like she failed everyone she cared about in her life. Her father, mother, Leo… Cara had never been capable of protecting anyone. If she wasn't even worthy enough to lick Richard's boots, how could she face him and tell him that the love of his life was gone forever? That she hadn't been enough to save her?

But who could bring this burden to Richard, if not Cara? He deserved to know from someone he deemed loyal, even if this would break his trust forever. He deserved to grieve and mourn upon her and Kahlan deserved every tear he could shed.

Kahlan deserved to live, whereas Cara was the one who should die, the Mord-Sith came to the conclusion, emitting a loud sigh.

If only she could flip their positions…

She didn't believe in miracles or divine providence, she never prayed to the Creator or expected anything from anyone else than herself, but even if she didn't express any request, an answer came to her unspoken prayer, with the features of a man she hoped not to see again in her life.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? The ghost of a Mord-Sith, weeping over the corpse of the Mother Confessor. Such a disgusting spectacle. Cara, you fell lower than I thought possible." Darken Rahl chuckled, standing some meters behind the broken Mord-Sith with an odious smile plastered on his mischievous face.

.

**Ok guys,**  
**I'm perfectly aware you want to lapidate me now, for posting such a short and few conclusive chapter.**  
**I cannot promise anything, but if possible I'll try to post the next and more consisting chapter sooner than usual.**  
**Very well, now you can lapidate me with your stony reviews! XD**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – The heart of intrigue**

**(Verse from the song "No good for me")**

Cara jumped upright, quickly turning back and shielding Kahlan's body with hers. Agiels instantly held in her hands, but somberly silent and without the soft humming which usually declared her thirst of blood. Darken laughed, a look of bemusement creeping across her face as he scoffed her.

"Such a soft, pathetic creature you've grown into, Cara. Don't you see that the Mother Confessor is dead? It's absolutely useless to keep that defensive posture, my dear. I can't harm her anymore. She is the Keeper's whore now." Rahl purred, smiling at the Mord-Sith. Cara gritted her teeth in rage, feeling a pierce to the heart and increasing the grip on her mute weapons.

"Oh, and if you've failed to notice it, your Agiels aren't working at the moment." He added perfidiously, pointing his index to her useless blood-red leather rods.

"If you are here to finish me, come on!" Cara yelled, challenging the man in front of her. "I'm waiting for you. Let's see if you have the stomach to fight with me without a dozen Mord-Sith protecting you." She thought this was an unrepeatable emergency exit she was given, to escape the pain tearing her apart.

"Who told you I'm here alone?" He asked, raising one eyebrow.

In the same moment, nine Mord-Sith and a Sister of the Dark approached, flanking him in a casual manner, the women in leathers proudly holding their chins high. Cara counted them instantly, as per her warrior's habit, to weigh her chances of victory. The blonde mused It was an unusual number, because Sisters of the Agiel always moved in quads. But the ninth was very close to the Sister of the Dark: it seemed the former was body-guarding the latter. Cara looked intensely at the red-veiled woman and thought she was odder than the Sisters she had meet so far. It seemed a spider bit her, since she was constantly moving from one foot to the other, scratching her arm, unfolding her dress, puffing air behind her veil. It was definitely driving headache! And the black braided Mord-Sith bodyguard was probably thinking the same thing, judging by the glaring looks she was sending to her protected.

"I should have known I couldn't expect a loyal fight with you Rahl. It doesn't matter." Cara lifted her own chin and challenged the others women around her with louder threatening voice: "Who wants to be the first to square up with me?" She was rolling her inoffensive Agiels impatient to begin the battle and to find someone against whom to slam her boiling rage.

"Ah Cara, always so impulsive… Why are you so sure I'm here to beat you?" Rahl spoke softly, stroking his bear, the amused smile never leaving his hideous face.

"I see no other reason for your filthy presence here." She growled, spitting her contempt.

"You're offending me. I've come to offer you my help." He mocked her with pretended disappointment.

Under her impassive face, Cara was confused. Darken Rahl wasn't the kind of man to trifle with and now he was moving in his typical deceitful way: he wanted to talk to her instead of kill her instantly, which thing he could do - more or less - easily, since she was outnumbered and powerless. Her former Lord had a plan in his head.

"I don't think you crawled out from your hideout, only to offer me your charity. What exactly do you want from me?" She inquired ragingly.

"At least the Seeker's influence hasn't lessened your perspicacity." Rahl seemed truly satisfied. "You will surrender and follow me without making a stand. If you will do so, Sister Amelia will remove the Magic Maze and you'll have the chance to give the Breath of Life to your dear Mother Confessor."

A beam of hope ripped the darkest stormy skies of Cara's soul; if there was even the microscopic opportunity to bring Kahlan back to life, she needed to catch it, no matter what was the price. But she couldn't simply trust Darken Rahl on his words; she needed to be careful and make sure her unique shot didn't go wasted. She did her best to maintain the detachment on her features and hoped her best was enough to seem convincing.

"You haven't answered my question. What do you want from me?" At least her voice was steady.

"You are not in the position to bargain Cara. You should consider my offer before I take it back." Rahl began to sound annoyed and the blonde slightly smiled; she was on the right way and needed to press him harder in the corner.

"You know me very well Darken therefore you're aware I blindly obey only to my true Lord Rahl and that isn't you." She teased him. "If you hazarded to stand up and be counted, then you must have a desperate need of my help. And I won't move a step until you tell me what's on your mind." The tyrant scowled deeply in annoyance, but after a moment he relaxed his expression and replied:

"Always the same stubborn Cara. Don't fool yourself thinking you are more cunning than me; I'm perfectly aware you are bluffing. If you don't want to take my offer, I'll force you to collaborate, your friend will remain dead and your beloved Lord Rahl will hate you, for failing the occasion to save her."

Cara was disposed to pay the highest price to win this hand, so she sprinted, slipping Kahlan's dagger from the body behind her and pointed it to her own heart.

"Take a step closer to me and you will never get from me what you want. Whatever it is." This time Darken face turned pale and he clenched his jaw, flaring from his nostrils and balling his fists.

Sister Amelia broke off yelling "No!"

The blonde turned to her astonished: the red sorceress sounded truly concerned about the blonde's fate. All this matter was strange and smelled like trick.

"Darken Rahl tell her the truth." The Sister squeaked almost panic-stricken. "If she doesn't choose freely to follow you, it won't work. It's your only chance to get your goal."

Darken glared at Amelia with fire in his eyes: how did she dare to interfere with his negotiations? He appointed to himself that this woman should be soon taught to remain in her place. But now part of his own bluff was spoiled and he knew that Cara was too smart to be tricked after what she heard. So he partially surrendered and began to talk.

"You won Cara, I'll tell you." He planted his icy gaze directly in her eyes "I need you to save our son's life."

Cara's jaw dropped. This was the second time someone talked to her about her son, after years during which his existence was wrapped in the deepest secret. After few heartbeats of utter confusion she regained control and barked:

"Don't fool me Rahl I know the child is dead. You provided to kill him the day he was born."

"This is what I needed everyone to believe. Otherwise he would be in danger; you know I have many enemies. He's alive and well hidden."

"Why should you have kept the boy alive?"

"It's not your business to know the reasons of my decisions Mord-Sith." His cold voice raised and he took a step closer, making Cara wince and adjusting the dagger against her chest; the blade brushed on her skin and a drop of blood trickled down. Darken's eyes widened seeing this waste, but he schooled his face and calmed down, before going on talking.

"You want a proof that I'm telling truth? Very well. Tell me Cara what did you do when the Seeker was stabbed by the Mother Confessor at the Pillars of Creation?" Cara quirked her eyebrows, she was perplexed, what had this matter to do with her son?

"I gave him the Breath of Life, obviously."

"And where do you think your powers were coming from, since my current body has not the Rahl's magic and Richard was dead?"

Cara remained totally at loss of words…

She hadn't realized this detail so far. But Darken was right, there must be another Rahl alive somewhere. He pressed her, seeing how his words reached the aim.

"Recently someone cursed the boy and he can be healed only with the blood of his parents given willingly."

"The Unloved Ones Curse…" She muttered.

"I'm impressed Cara." He declared sincerely surprised. "The wizard gave you lessons of D'Haran history? Very few people know about this curse and its story. If you do, then you'll also know I cannot heal him, because the blood running through my veins is not my own." He took a step closer. "And this leads me to you."

"Why do you want him alive? And why is a Sister of the Dark by your side? Doesn't she remember you betrayed her Lord, the Keeper?" The encircled Mord-Sith asked, increasing the grip on the dagger and trying to get the most information possible to compose the tangled puzzle in her mind about this absurd situation.

"You're teasing your luck Cara." Darken replied annoyed. "I can't explain you the reasons of the Keeper, whose wisdom overhang human comprehension, but if he wants his servants by my side, who am I to refuse such gift?" The blonde frowned in distaste: she hoped she got rid of that kind of depraved red nuns, who provoked never ending troubles in the Seeker's path, with their damn flying razor. Including Kahlan's death, for which they would pay with pain, slowly and mercilessly.

"About the boy," Darken went on "as I already told you, it's not your business. But if you want keep on placing question, make yourself comfortable." He smiled viciously, tilting his head toward the lying pale woman. "In the meantime, the body of the Mother Confessor grows colder and colder."

Cara gritted her teeth and growled a curse: time wasn't by her side. He smiled wider and rubbed his hands satisfied, savoring his victory.

"Now that I've silenced your lovely insolent mouth, can I deduce we have a deal?" He added in triumphant tone.

Cara dropped her head in defeat and spitted unwillingly:

"Yes."

.

**Oh yes my dear, I was implying exactly that Cara's son is still alive! With my personal compliments to the readers who had already guessed it (but I left several clues about it along the way here).  
This is the primary idea where all my story began and I really hope you like it. Why don't you let me know it and leave a review? They make my days...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – There's nothing worse than unrequited love**

**(Verse from the song "Love to love you")**

She sucked air with a compelling urge, filling her lungs completely, until they ached unable to contain more oxygen. She snapped her eyes wide open and sat in a pounce, gasping and frantically turning her head right and left in the attempt to remember where she was and why she was there.

Kahlan was in a clearing in the forest, completely alone. It was early morning and a hot sun shone upon her skin. Her mind was still confused and had trouble focusing on what happened. She closed her eyes and placed her fingers against her temples moving gentle circles to help her concentration.

Hot… in the past days it wasn't hot, it was fresh… and wet. There was… the fog! She suddenly recalled they had been trapped, deprived of their powers and ambushed by the Sisters of the Dark. She instinctively turned to her harmed arm, oddly it wasn't aching. She removed the bandage and found it completely healed.

What the hell had happened?

Her brain was still dull then a flash lightened her mind: Cara!

At last she remembered everything: how Cara carried her and remained near her, until her last breath. How, just a moment before dying, Kahlan read the Mord-Sith and found the most unexpected secret hidden in the folds of the blonde's inner soul. But now she had no time to linger upon this puzzling revelation, she had to find out what happened and find Cara. Kahlan stood up assessing her surroundings and reasoning: she had died but now she was alive and the blonde was nowhere in sight. At the same time the brunette realized she was fine, more than fine. She felt in full strength; she hadn't felt so well in weeks. The obvious and only reason she could think of, was that she received the Breath of Life.

Cara.

The Mord-Sith must have found a way to remove the trapping spell, gave her the Breath of Life and then disappeared. A dread foreboding bloomed in the back of Kahlan's mind and sent shiver down her spine. She shouted her friend's name repeatedly. A rustle in the distance caught her attention and the Confessor lifted her guard, but her daggers had been removed from her boots. She felt heat rising because of her vulnerable position, but sighed in relief when she saw Richard and Zedd approaching to her. She ran toward the Seeker and he did the same until they crashed in a tight embrace.

"Kahlan are you all right? I was so frightened something happened to you." He cried, squeezing her in his strong arms.

"I'm fine Richard and so happy to see you." Kahlan closed her eyes melting into his sheltering embrace. He parted from her and stared in contemplation smiling at his love, cupping her face with both his hands and moving forward to kiss her. But she halted him with concern in her eyes.

"Richard, we have no time. We need to find Cara, she's vanished." A small hint of disappointment glimpsed in the young man's eyes, but he immediately discarded the shoes of the lover, to wear the Seeker's one, resolute to find his friend.

Kahlan explained to the men what happened since the fog dropped on them, how they were attacked by the Sisters of the Dark, until the moment she woke up back alive a few minutes ago, but without Cara around. She avoided, not so innocently, reporting she tried to kiss the Mord-Sith two days before.

A sample of emotions coursed on Richard's face during her talk: scare, wrath, but mostly angst when he heard she died. He turned pale and placed his hands on hers and couldn't get them off of her, tightening often to reassure himself the warmth of life was still on his beloved Kahlan and that she was again close to him, where he could protect her.

Zedd also reported to Kahlan they weren't attacked by anyone, but left wandering around the forest. Then they all began to look for trails which could give them a clue regarding where the Mord-Sith was and what happened to her.

.

"Kahlan." Richard called at his lover.

"Did you find something?" She reached him fast and hopefully.

"I found your dagger here, among the grass." That was the spot where Kahlan was laying before.

"I don't remember unsheathing it. Cara was unarmed; she must have taken it …and dropped it." The brunette spoke these last words with a troubled tone.

"She may have the other one with her." Richard shyly tried to give her the hope Cara wasn't necessarily in immediate danger, but he himself found it hard to believe in his own optimism. Kahlan shook her head.

"No, we lost it during the battle with the Sisters of the Dark."

"Then take mine." The Seeker drew a dagger from his boot and handed it to the brunette "You can't fight properly with only one. We might be attacked again." It was a shorter and heavier dagger than Kahlan's, but it had a good blade. She held the weapon he was giving her, touching his warm rough hand and quivered remembering she told the blonde a short time ago she owed her a new dagger. Kahlan wondered with a sigh whether Cara would ever get the chance to fulfill her promise to refund the lost object.

Zedd magically scanned the whole area but found nothing at all; whoever performed the Magic Maze was a first class sorceress, because every trace of the spell had been completely removed. They kept on searching until sundown, covering a larger and larger range of forest, but found nothing at all; Cara seemed to be spirited away. Finally they suspend the search and made camp for the night, purposing to start again the next morning.

Kahlan agreed, it was senseless to go on seeking in the dark, but nonetheless she felt a sore twinge in her chest, figuring her friend out there, alone, likely in danger, or worse… The Confessor couldn't even think about it. She wanted to soothe herself, nestling in the warmth of Richard's broad shoulders, but thought it would be somehow unfair toward Cara, who had nobody to rely on at the moment. So she put him gently aside, uncaring of his confused look and laid on her bedroll, hoping sleep would come easily.

Pointless.

Kahlan had this seed planted in her head that Cara sacrificed herself to save her and nothing in the world could ever get this idea out of her mind. The Confessor felt it with complete certainty, since the moment she came back to life. Since she breathed in the life Cara thrust into her. Kahlan shut her eyes tightly feeling hot tears slipping between her lashes.

She was convinced of this, because what she read in the Mord-Sith's soul was that Cara was desperately in love with her.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi guys,  
****the light of the Thunder is back!  
****I'm really sorry for the long delay, I had to settle some things before going on posting. I hope I'll be more punctual from now on and want to reassure you I ABSOLUTELY want to complete this story.  
****I inform you that Pallasphoenix is any longer betareading me; i want to thank her one more time for the help she gave me and the precious advices she provided me.  
****Thatdamnyank has offered me her help and is now betareading this story. Thank you very much for the dedication! I have reposted chapters 1-12 revised with her suggestions.  
****And if you are reading this guys, thanks to you for having patience and for coming back to my story.**

**Brief summary: the merry band is ambushed from Sisters of the Dark (who are co-operating with Darken Rahl)and split in two. Cara and Kahlan are attacked and the Confessor dies a moment after reading the Mord-Sith and learning she is in love with her.  
****Cara accepts a deal with Darken Rahl, who offers her the chance to revive Kahlan if she will follow him to heal their son, she thought was dead. Kahlan wakes up and rejoins Richard and Zedd, whereas the Mord-Sith seems vanished.**

**Have a nice reading time.**

**.**

**Chapter 13 – The crystal vision**

**(Verse from the song "Dreams")**

Darken Rahl was satisfied in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Things were at last moving in the right way for him. He bent that bitch Cara on her proud knees, forced her to follow him and to do as he requested. It was an incomparable pleasure to see her reduced to obedience like a little scary lamb, her head bowing to him like she used to do once, even if now her face was a contorted mask of loathing, instead of the fierce portrait of eagerness and loyalty. But this deed gave him even more enjoyment.

And he would make sure the enjoyment would become more concrete, once he broke her completely and returned her to the place she deserved: among the ranks of his Mord-Sith, licking his boots and lavishing herself to please him in every possible way.

She had always turned him on in ways he hardly understood: perhaps it was her unbeatable strength, or her enormous pride, or maybe that unique stubbornness. Most likely all of those things combined with her gorgeous body and her angelic face. He was foretasting the moment he could put his hands on that fabulous piece of flesh to leave indelible marks on her body and soul, reminding her the place where she belonged and where her loyalty lie. But he had to wait.

After she was drained of all that blood to heal the boy, she died several times and was brought back by her sisters. Now she needed to regain strength to begin a new training session, he was purposing to deal personally. He knew it wouldn't take a long time waiting, as she was strong.

The strongest.

That was precisely the reason for which she was chosen to receive the highest honor a Mord-Sith couldn't even imagine to be graced by: to carry the son of a Rahl in her womb.

Instead, the reasons for which he wanted a son had nothing to do with love and the wish to become father, or the continuation of his dynasty; he had experienced enough of this bullshit with his own father and had no interest in siring his future murderer. What led him into this decision was an ambush he was taken into, in Ravensberg.

By that time a group of rebels managed to intercept his route and attacked him and his escorting soldiers. Those badly equipped and barely battle-trained derelict had no chance to beat a group of strapping experienced D'Harian soldiers and the Master of D'Hara didn't even pay attention to the fray, keeping himself behind the front line.

But those little bastards had another plan: the fight was only a diversion, while the true weapon in their sleeves was a Quillion. One of them got close enough to him and opened the artifact; Rahl felt his powers sucked away from his body without possibility to react. In a fistful of seconds the tyrant realized that without his magic he had nothing: he would become weak and disarmed, he would lose the bond with his Mord-Sith and with his armies. He would not be able to reinforce himself with the devotions and would turn vulnerable and easy to be overthrown.

Luckily his trusted General Egremont stepped in and killed the man holding the Quillion, closing the object before it was too late. His soldiers swept away the other attackers and the accident was closed. But the tyrant kept on pondering that he needed to safeguard his magic power, otherwise he could fall into other traps like the one he had just escaped from and fall in disgrace.

His sorcerer Giller gave him the answer. Should Rahl lose his magic, this could be regained through an ancient spell, which needed the blood of a person whose soul was connected to his: a parent, a sibling or an heir. The first two choices were unlikely to realize, besides he could obtain a son and keep him in hand. This solution required a very long time, because the baby had to be big and strong enough to make the spell work. This meant waiting for years and meant to find a potential mother who could measure up with the task and obtain a healthy and strong child.

Darken Rahl decided to invest in this project anyway and had no doubt in choosing Cara. The Master of D'Hara had her checked from Giller to ensure she could produce a worth heir: the response was more than positive and the Lord Rahl put himself immediately on the job to procreate a son, who punctually arrived after nine months. The baby was taken at birth and brought in a safe secret place.

Darken took care to arrange that nobody knew the infant was his', _silencing_ all who could be aware of it, but fell in the temptation to leave Cara alive: she was useful to him because she served him better alive than dead. It was extremely unlikely that she could turn against him and decide to get back her son. Anyway he spread the voice that he killed the boy, so that even this possibility was prevented.

Many things had gone awry since those days, but now events were turning in the right direction for him. This child was his guarantee to regain his magic, even in a body that wasn't a Rahl's. The potion Sister Amelia prepared for the kid was working fine and the little creature was fast recovering his forces. Though Cara was a dirty traitor, Darken had to admit she did a very good job: she produced a strong, beautiful and clever child. And most of all he had a very strong Rahl's magic in himself, even if it wasn't yet displayed.

The only thing bothering Rahl about the boy was the fact that he didn't seem to have any inclination towards evil, thus he must have taken more from his mother than from his father. But it really didn't matter, since the child had to die as soon as he was big enough to bear the spell that could give his father back his magic.

And this would come soon.

* * *

Shota was disappointed.

She thought she was playing a solitaire, but she was mistaken. This was a chess match and not realizing this deed immediately, made her lose some pieces, but the game was far from over and she was an excellent strategist.

She cursed Darken Rahl's child, but couldn't use a spell that could kill him immediately, because without knowing the exact location of the target, the curse would never reach the boy. So she opted for a less deadly magic that could affect him even without knowing where he was and able to achieve her purpose anyway, since the only possible cure was prevented to Rahl. Even so, it wasn't easy to cast the enchantment and it took all her ability: it was like throwing a stone in the sea, hoping to kill a fish. But she had a good aim and the boy was hit by the illness.

Shota thought herself she won, but she was brusquely forced to change her mind.

She would never expect Darken to manage finding and capturing the mother of this child, who turned out to be nothing less than Cara Mason, the Mord-Sith who betrayed him to give her loyalty to Richard Cypher Rahl, the Seeker. If Shota knew this fact before, she would have opted for a different strategy, but now it was late for complaints.

It was unlikely the former tyrant knew by himself about the nature the curse Shota casted and it was even more unlikely that he could obtain the potion to heal the boy on his own, since he had no magic powers at the moment. Someone was helping him and the visions of the witch revealed her that the Sisters of the Dark were now on the game, on behalf of the Keeper and playing on Darken's side. So Creator and Keeper were playing this chess game, probably sharing the same knowledge about events to come, and putting their allies on the board in the effort to bend the future in their preferred way.

Shota reviewed the vision she had weeks ago, to ponder about her next check.

_She saw the Seeker and his band triumphantly returning in Aydindril and proclaiming peace and alliance between D'Hara and the Midlands._ _Richard Cypher Rahl got married with the Mother Confessor, but left the Midlands immediately after, accompanied by his Mord-Sith Cara Mason. They headed to D'Hara where he reinstated order, claiming his right to the Rahl's throne._

_After one year, once the country was settled and peace restored, Richard returned to Aydindril and rejoined to his love, leaving his Mord-Sith Cara to hold the regency of D'Hara._

_Meanwhile Darken Rahl was conspiring in the shadows to regain his powers. He captured Sister Nicci and put her in the skilled hands of the few devoted Mord-Sith he had still close to him. The Sisters of the Agiel broke her completely and bent her to his will, turning her into an eager pet._

_Nicci arranged a spell involving Darken's son: the boy was killed and with his blood, Rahl obtained a potion which returned the Rahl's magic in his body. After that Nicci made a thing Shota didn't know possible: she transferred her Han to Rahl. Evidently Sisters of the Dark had the possibility to steal, receive but also donate their Han, but only to someone who already had magic in himself. Nicci's Han was formidable because it collected her own and Richard's. Fool Seeker; he did something truly unwise - not to say stupid - when he tossed away his magic heritage._

_With all this power Darken Rahl began to secretly, slowly and relentlessly gather alliances: Mord-Sith displeased by the new Lord, armies and generals still loyal to him, vassals disappointed by the new peaceful establishment._

_During this period the Seeker and the Mother Confessor were living their blissful lives and reigned joyfully on the Midlands. Kahlan became immediately pregnant, but their overwhelming happiness was dulled by a fact._

_Shota's vision turned blurred here and she couldn't see well, but she perceived that something was wrong with the newborn; he was a male Confessor. Both Richard and Kahlan lacked the courage to kill the baby and they raised him with a Rada-Han constantly around his neck, to prevent his powers to taint him. There was something more about the Rahl-Amnell's family in the vision, but it was concealed and Shota couldn't see what it was; the flow of the events kept on._

_._

_Seven years passed from the defeat of the Keeper and Darken Rahl abruptly emerged from the darkness where he had kept himself hidden for such a long time, killing a member of the royal family, driving Kahlan in despair and Richard in a furious wrath._

_Cara had tried to warn the Seeker during these years that something wicked was sneaking under the surface of normality. She begged him to come to the People's Palace to show himself to his subjects, to take back the reins of the land. The Mord-Sith was his most trusted advisor, but people needed a Rahl to apply to: they needed to be guided and taught and protected. They needed to proclaim their devotions to Richard to acknowledge him as rightful Master. Otherwise they could lose faith in him; indeed they turned to another Master. Cara tried hard to convince him, but her voice was the only one to alert him and he was deaf to her pleadings. The Seeker wanted nothing but remain in his comfortable nest of love._

_Until things tumbled down._

_A new war started and Richard took the field under the sails of Aydindril, wielding again the Sword of Truth to gather forces against the evil tyrant, who threatened to destroy all the peace and the prosperity built in the past seven years. After three years of harsh war, both the lands were devastated by desolation, hunger and death. Richard was in charge of the forces and Cara was always by his side, but the Seeker's heart was torn apart from guilt and despair. Far from his love and blinded by his rage, he turned unwary and got killed in an ambush._

_The Mother Confessor grieved desperately upon him; she seemed incapable to go ahead, but managed to hold on for her son and for her people. Cara took Richard's place in charge of the armies, trying hard to cheer up the souls of the soldiers, who believed they were doomed to lose without the Seeker among them._

_After two more years another aggression to the royal family was thwarted, but the price was the life of the Wizard of the First Order: Zedd was poisoned and died. This was too much for Kahlan and she was about to give up, but Cara left the battlefield and reached her. She consoled her, remained close to her and soothed her, until she lifted her up from the hole of darkness Kahlan was about to bury herself in._

_Their close friendship turned into something deeper and the two women savored some moments of happiness, in a world full of angst. Cara was in love with the Mother Confessor since long years and now her feelings became at last returned from the other woman. They had the chance to live their love for five more years, but then Cara went captured from the enemy while leading an attack._

_Darken Rahl tried in every way to bend the Mord-Sith formerly under his command, but she seemed unbreakable with her heart shielded by the pure love of the Mother Confessor. So he renounced the pleasure to turn Cara against her lover and killed her, slowly and painfully. Then he sent the pieces of her body to the Queen of the Midlands, one by one._

_Kahlan's mind heart and soul broke irreparably and she fell in a catatonic state, from which she never woke up._

_The Midlands had nobody to lead them and the long dark shadow of the evil Rahl's tyranny was close to covering everything._

Shota was snapped from the trance by a shiver; what followed in the vision was _even worse_ and she was already nauseated by what she had seen so far… war, death, even a male Confessor… a never ending chain of calamities.

The witch knew this future had already been changed as the Seeker was currently in D'Hara with the Wizard of the First Order instead of with the Mord-Sith, who was within Rahl's clutches at the moment. But Darken still had his son and the sorceress Nicci at hand and was preparing to regain his lost powers and start his coming back to the fore.

Shota was still convinced that the key to skip this gloomy fate was Darken's son: without him nothing of the awful things she had just seen, would come. But Rahl, with the help of that Sister Amelia, had put an extremely powerful protection spell upon the little head and now Shota couldn't touch him with her magic anymore. Thus the witch had to think to a new strategy to remove the little king from the chessboard. To pursue this plan she needed a queen by her side.

Rather, two queens.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – What can I do?**

**(Title from the song "What can I do?")**

Ten days had passed since Cara disappeared and the Seeker was still seeking.

They hadn't found the slightest clue about her fate; nothing. Richard was already aware that insisting with the search was pointless; after all those days even the best trail would have grown cold and they had nothing to follow. Even Zedd seemed to have lost his hopes and ran out his stock of helpful spells. But Kahlan wasn't willing to give up; she was obstinately resolute on the task and looked incapable of admitting they hadn't the possibility to rescue Cara at the moment.

Every night in his bedroll, Richard could hear his lover's crying and sobbing, whispering their lost friend's name. Richard tried to talk to her, share her pain, but Kahlan was elusive and lied to him, telling she was all right. The brunette seemed more attached to the Mord-Sith than ever and he found himself wondering whether, during their being apart in the fog, between the two women happened something more than what Kahlan reported to him. But probably – he thought - it was owed to the sense of guilt Kahlan was feeling; it was easy to imagine that the Confessor believed it was her fault if Cara was taken. The saddened woman never spoke these words aloud, but her emotions were clearly written upon her face and her companions could read them at every moment.

Richard decided to talk to Kahlan face to face and he already knew the discussion would be heated, but nonetheless it was needed. So he asked Zedd to provide some roots or mushrooms; the old man immediately caught the subtle allusion and walked away with an agreeing look toward his grandson. The Seeker gathered his forces and confronted Kahlan.

It turned out to be the worst argument they had ever had. The brunette was furiously enraged and wouldn't listen to his reasons; she screamed at him that she would never give up the search and he should be ashamed for thinking to do so.

"I must also think of you Kahlan. We are exposed to danger here and you must return to Aydindril. Your people need the Mother Confessor." He tried to convince her.

"Stop being so overprotective toward me Richard, I don't need you to!" She shrieked and he felt the anger growing inside him in response.

"Yes you do! You were dead, remember?" He shouted in full voice.

"I remember very well Richard." Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed in a thin white line, hissing accusations. "And where were you with all your protectiveness in that moment?" He remained at loss of words; she provoked him harder:

"Let me think… Oh yeah, you were strolling around the forest with your grandfather. And guess who was with me?" Under her rage, gushes of sorrow began to flood. He stayed mute and wide eyed.

"Cara was!" Kahlan cried out loud. "She held my hand until I exhaled my last breath, then gave herself away to bring me back. So don't ask me to give her up." Now plentiful tears were streaming down her face. Richard was hurt as well: Kahlan hit him hard below the belt. He wasn't with her when she needed him the most and he wasn't able to do anything to help her.

"You're unfair Kahlan." Were the only words he could mutter, feeling guilty and frustrated for not being at her side in that moment, even if he was prevented by forces beyond his possibilities. The dark haired woman remained silent, sobbing and wiping away her tears. After a while she calmed down and replied:

"I won't abandon her Richard, don't ask me to."

He felt again his rage climbing higher and higher for her stupid, unfitting stubbornness and was about to burst to her that she was selfish and irresponsible, but before speaking those unforgivable words, a voice in his mind rang. It was the slow calming voice of a woman who undertook the hard task to thrust into his head wisdom and good sense, over the capacity to deal with his Han. It was Sister Verna's voice.

"_Remember Richard, your magic is linked to your emotions, they both come from inside of you, are part of you. You must use them to your own advantage, don't oppose them; make them your allies, don't let them turn against you. Learn to dominate them, or they will dominate you."_

And so he did.

He took a deep breath and spoke with calm and steady voice:

"Listen to me Kahlan. I'm worried about Cara just like you are and we shouldn't argue, because we want the same thing: find her. But we are of no help to her, running in circles and waiting for her to pop up between us. We can go to Aydindril and gather soldiers and wizards and whatever is there useful to help looking for her. You can be mad at me, I don't care, but I will do what is best for Cara. And you know if she was here, she would agree with me."

Kahlan remained dazed at these last words: Richard was right. All the things he said were right, but it was too hard on her leaving; she felt she was betraying Cara. The Confessor had said horrible things to Richard, but she was taken aback: she didn't expect him to suggest giving up; he was always the first to spur the others to hold on.

"All right, Richard. Tomorrow we will head to Aydindril." She murmured defeated with a bitter breath.

"We'll find her and bring her home." He got close to her and held her shoulders with his hands, staring at her wet eyes and waiting her permission to hug, but it didn't come. She just placed her hand above his', lowering her look to the ground and sobbing.

_Home._

Cara said she had no home. But she was wrong, Kahlan thought. Her home was near her friends and inside their hearts, where the blonde had unexpectedly managed to build a dwelling. So Kahlan wanted with all of herself to bring Cara back home, close to her Confessor's heart.

* * *

The morning after they were leaving the forest and following the path that would lead them to next village within the end of the day. Richard thought they needed a change of scenery to distract from the sour happenings of the last days, even if it wasn't possible to ignore the lacking of sarcastic comments, annoyed grunts or narrowed circumspective glares, floating around them.

Cara used to say that even if the Keeper was sealed in his smelly sewer, they had to be wary. Richard always laughed and told her to relax, everything was all right and she could dismiss her Mord-Sith alert habits. Obviously Cara didn't follow his advice, but this wasn't enough to spare her from being taken and torn apart from them, he thought with sorrow.

Kahlan had barely spoken after the argument of the previous day and she was still wearing an upset look, but was unwilling to share her turmoil with him or with Zedd.

Richard sighed observing inwardly how much distant they had turned from each other in the past days and how much he missed her nearness. They talked only a little and every time Kahlan seemed controlled and hiding her true emotions. There had been very few kisses and hugs; she had never come in the night, to rest on his chest like she did once. Above all, he missed her laugh… it was a sound that could wipe the dark clouds obscuring his soul in the blink of an eye and Creator knew how much he needed it now. He needed Kahlan just as his lungs needed air and couldn't figure his life without her or without the full awareness she loved him.

Who captured Cara and why? His Seeker's nature kept on pressing these questions to his mind. Why taking only Cara? Why leaving her the opportunity to revive Kahlan (even if he was thankful for this opportunity)?

The involvement of the Sisters of the Dark was the only fact they knew for sure: the tainted red women were on the Keeper's payroll, so he must be the instigator. But it sounded so weird taking Cara instead of him; Richard was, after all, the one responsible for the sealing of the rift, so he expected to be the foremost aim of the Lord of the Underworld's revenge. Too many days had passed and if the powerful occupant of the subsoil wanted to strike them again, he would have already done it. Up till now it was likely the Keeper had no more interest in chasing them.

And what did the Sisters want from Cara? Since she was immune to their magic, it would be difficult for them to deal with her, even if she was outnumbered. She was a badass, he thought smiling inwardly with pride and sighing immediately after, feeling a pang of nostalgia for his missing tough friend.

Richard was warily optimistic they hadn't killed Cara, otherwise he and his companions would find her body. And they had scanned every single blade of grass in the range of miles. If the Mord-Sith were there, they would have found her.

"Richard." Kahlan's voice snapped him from his wonderings.

She had reached him and placed her hand on his shoulder; she was smiling at him, but he read sadness in her eyes and felt sorry for her. The warmth of her hand was pleasant and reminded him how much he was missing her soft touches. He turned to her smiling back.

"May I talk to you?" She was wary and looked through Zedd some paces away from them, implying she wanted to talk alone with him.

"Sure." He longed nothing more, than clear things between them and they walked a little further away from the wizard, who understood their need of privacy and looked elsewhere slowing his pace. She slid her hand from his shoulder to his hand and took it, squeezing slightly and staring at their connected limbs. He felt relief seeing her attempt to build a bridge to cover the cold distance that had grown between them.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I don't think those things about you Richard and I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Her cheeks turned pink and her eyes were still glued below.

"I know Kahlan, you were upset, I understand. Don't worry." He talked sweetly and honestly.

"Please Richard, forgive me, I know I was unfair… You were right, and my behavior was unacceptable." She was ashamed and obviously expecting to be blamed.

"There's nothing to forgive Kahlan. And I shouldn't have raised my voice with you too."

He took her chin and lifted her face until their eyes met and he warmly smiled at her, conveying all his love in his gaze. She perceived it and smiled back even if in her eyes glimpses of distress lingered. He came close to her and they kissed. Richard melted himself into the woman he loved with all of his heart and soul, moaning when he felt her kissing him back with the same intensity.

Kahlan had avoided him in the past days because she thought that searching relief in her love for Richard would be wrong toward Cara, especially after she learnt the nature of the feelings the blonde had for her. It was irrational, the Confessor knew it, but she couldn't help. She believed that after finding Cara, this odd sensation would cease, but now she needed too much a bit of solace to restrain herself from showing her Seeker she loved him and needed to be loved by him.

The kiss lasted long, slow and sweet, but tinged with sadness. Somehow Cara's presence was lingering in it. When they parted Richard leant with closed eyes on her forehead, inhaling the air coming from Kahlan. After a while she backed up and smiled at him, staring at his tender eyes; he raised their still tangled hands and kissed her knuckles. She emitted a slight sigh and he guessed what was crossing her mind.

"I miss her too, Kahlan. It's so hard to kiss you without being rebuked or make decisions without being constantly contradicted. I can't allow myself to get used to it, or it will be a mess when she'll be back."

The brunette slightly laughed for the first time in days. The sound felt like fresh relieving raindrops on both their dried souls.

"Oh Richard sometimes I expect to see her stepping out from behind a bush. I think that if I turn back my head I'll find her behind me, or if I look ahead I will see her red leathers." She was looking straight ahead and added "Even now, look out there. Between those trees, there's something red in the shadows…"

Both of them narrowed their gaze to the point Kahlan mentioned. There was actually something red, rustling between the trees. And suddenly it stepped out.

Kahlan gasped and Richard tightened his grip on her hand.

Cara was standing there!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – She plays it hard she plays it tough, but that's enough the love is over**

**(Verse from the song "Old Town")**

"Cara!" Kahlan trilled and her face was transfigured in pure joy. She knocked off her hand from Richard's and flew toward the blonde.

It all happened in a fistful of seconds, but in Richard's mind everything was slow-motioned. He instantly felt a bad presentiment, as if something was wrong with Cara, but couldn't figure immediately out what it was. May be it was the acid annoyance he felt on the bottom of his throat, elicited by the speed with which Kahlan left his hand to sprint toward Cara? Or May be it was the fact that the Mord-Sith mysteriously popped up from nowhere all in a sudden? That she was weirdly silent and stiff? Or it was that strange look in her eyes? She was impassive as usual, but a certain cold lingered behind her eyes and she seemed… malicious.

Kahlan was already at an arm's length from the blonde, stretching her arms out to hug her friend and Richard felt a shiver running down his spine.

"Kahlan stop!" He screamed frightened, but he himself hadn't yet acknowledged what was exactly worrying him. The Confessor halted, taken aback from her lover's loud and aghast voice, and turned to him still widely smiling and reassuring him.

"Richard, it's Cara, she's back! She's safe!"

In that moment, Richard realized Cara was wearing her complete Mord-Sith uniform instead of the usual lighter version, she had her arms hidden behind her back and her holsters were empty. Dread spread over his face and he opened his mouth to warn Kahlan, but it was too late. Kahlan saw his face, but didn't understand the reason of his sudden turning pale. Cara was there! Everything would be all right now, what was the matter with him?

An excruciating pain reverberating from the brunette's back and traveling all over her body, came in answer. The whining of the Agiel firmly planted in her spine wasn't audible, covered by the loud screams Kahlan was emitting. She gasped for air and turned her head to see which opponent had approached; she eyed nothing but Cara's evil grin.

The blonde removed her weapon with a jerk and Kahlan sank to the ground sucking air in bewilderment.

"Nice to see you again Mother Confessor." The Mord-Sith's voice was pure steel, cold and contemptuous.

In the same moment another seven Sisters of the Agiel sprinted out of the trees: two joined Cara's flanks, while the others headed to Richard and Zedd.

"Zedd run!" Richard shouted while unsheathing the Sword of Truth and placing himself in the way of the red-clad warriors, trying to prevent them from chasing the wizard, who fled into the woods. The Seeker blocked three of them, but two other braided women followed the old man into the forest.

Kahlan rolled to skip another assault from Cara and took her daggers just in time to parry the blow coming from the blonde. The Confessor twisted her arm and knocked the Agiel to the ground, but Cara jerked the other one aiming to her chest, directly to the heart. Kahlan left her grip and backed up enough to avoid the deadly blow. She lifted up her look and saw the other two Mord-Sith encircling her on both sides, whereas Cara was standing in front of her.

The Confessor threw herself to the right parrying the braided foe's Agiel with her dagger and kicking on her knees to make her lose balance, then Kahlan hit her hard on her head with the hilt of her weapon, momentarily dazing the red-clad woman. The other opponent on the left took advantage of the Confessor's turned back and struck Kahlan's side with the whining rod, sending streams of agony in her torso. The brunette held on clenching her teeth, lowering and swirling her arm to slit her opponent's throat. The Mord-Sith jumped back then stretched again the Agiel against her belly; more waves of pain Kahlan had to endure, but this time the attacker lowered the guard just an inch and the pained Confessor saw the way open to plunge the dagger deep into the red leathers-wrapped ribcage. The wounded Mord-Sith sputtered blood with a puzzled face and loosened her grip on her Agiel go giving Kahlan a little respite, just a heartbeat before being grabbed by Cara by her long raven hair.

"I've always liked your hair very much." The wicked blonde hissed with a challenging smirk printed on her face. She punched Kahlan in her stomach and forced her on her knees.

"Cara I know this isn't you." Kahlan lifted her face and tried, with her heartfelt words, to appeal to her friend, hoping to reach her good part, even if it seemed it was buried under an evil version of Cara. "I know you don't really want to hurt me. You're strong, you can fight this."

The blonde laughed loud in amusement and replied, brusquely shaking the Confessor's head.

"You don't know anything of me. You never did." Then she yanked the knelt Confessor close to her and tucked the Agiel on her neck, still firmly holding the dark locks and impossibly increasing the evil of her grin.

"Believe me when I say there's nothing I want more, than hurting you." The blonde hissed in full contempt directly in the taller woman's ear. Kahlan was gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes in the effort to endure the growing pain on her neck. It was damn aching and things got worse when she felt another Agiel on her right shoulder joining the sufferings feast; the first Mord-Sith she had beaten before had awoken and reached her.

Summoning all her strength, the brunette raised her blade in a flash and slashed Cara's arm from the elbow up to the hand, deeply cutting leathers and skin; vigorous gushes of her friend's fresh blood stained Kahlan's terrified face. She didn't want to hurt her, but hadn't the luxury to split hairs. Cara hissed and removed the bleeding limb and the Agiel, but held her grasp to the long dark hair with the other hand. Kahlan tried all-out and wrenched herself with all her strength to break free; strands went painfully torn off, but she managed to wriggle away. The brunette dropped one dagger and tossed her hand toward the throat of the fellow Mord-Sith who was already jumping on the top of her, releasing her Confessor's power. The eyes of both women turned black, but only the red-clad one fell on her knees, sobbing in remorse and asking mercy to her new mistress, dying in pain after a minute.

Kahlan turned again to Cara who was already looming over her with both Agiels pointed to her heart and her kidney. She tried to dodge, but the blonde was too strong and too fast. She suffered the blow and felt again that paralyzing sore coursing all over her; Kahlan sank lying on the ground with her sight fast turning blurred, while her eyes were desperately searching a glimpse of her friend in those cool ruthless orbs in front of her.

"NO!" Richard's voice echoed from the distance.

Kahlan turned her head and saw Richard running toward her and Cara, leaving behind him three dead Mord-Sith. The moment after everything turned dark grey and the brunette fainted, overwhelmed by the ache coming from her implacable friend's Agiels.

Richard jumped to the top of the blonde swirling his sword so energetically that, wouldn't Cara instantly back from Kahlan like she did, she would end beheaded. His face was a mask of pure fury: he felt his love was about to die again and was willing do to _everything_ to prevent it.

He dropped his sword with all his strength on Cara, but she blocked him with her crossed Agiels. He pushed harder and harder, but she was damn strong and faced his pressure, then rejected him with a brusque shove and they both backed some steps.

Cara was the first to attack again and he found himself parrying and dodging multiple shots coming at light-speed from the blonde, until she managed to find a hole in his defenses and hit him on the lower abdomen, causing a rush of aching pangs to his torso and legs. He knelt screaming, hearing her loud smug laugh and feeling his rage flying higher.

She was leaning on him with her weight to plunge her weapon deeper and inflict the most possible pain; he swiveled back making her lose balance, then lifted up in a flash and kicked her mercilessly on her ribcage: a dull cracking thud suggested that some ribs went broken. She crawled back gasping for air, while he stood panting hard and clearing his mind from the rage which captivated him; Richard realized he had just been so out of himself, he could even kill his supposed friend. She got up and replaced the mischievous grin on her face to that of scorning him.

"Good job Seeker, but I guess you can do better. Your beloved Confessor has endured the pain of my Agiels much better than you. I suspect it liked her judging on her moaning… Do you want me to lend you one next time you two will slip over to the woods?"

He saw all red again and sprinted toward her wielding the sword; she expected exactly this reaction and spun on her right, tripping him down and planting a knee on his lower back and both her Agiels on his nape.

This time he saw all white by the pain and felt trapped in her grasp and defeated by his impulsivity: the lacking of control on his emotions was playing against him once again, he thought. He fumbled on his belt and managed to extract a little knife from it; he planted it on Cara's inner thigh, which began to bleed copiously. She growled but didn't desist from delivering pain on Richard's bruised neck. He increased the grip on the handle and pushed the knife deeper, slashing and rotating the blade inside her, mercilessly lacerating her flesh; this time she screamed and flinched from him, letting him free.

He knelt, heavily swaying, shaking his head and blinking repeatedly to regain sight; in the end he managed to hardly stand up. Some paces away Cara was slowly lifting, carefully propping on the good leg, with weapons still held in her hands and fierce need to kill firmly in her eyes.

"Come on Seeker, make me see if you have the guts to do what must be done."

She rushed on him with renewed energy, Creator only knew where she got it, and he found himself again skipping and shielding from hard blows. But she was harmed worse than Richard, spilling bucketfuls of blood, plus the anger came again to reinforce the Sword of Truth, which turned red. He soon became the attacking one, sending a rain of mighty slashes, while she was fighting to defend herself. Cara was so concentrated on his blows that didn't see him unfairly kicking her wounded leg and dropped shrieking on the ground; he raised his sword over his head and she had just the time to lift her eyes to his' and see pure wrath in the Seeker's features: this time he wouldn't stop himself.

She raised her hand using her powers to hold his sword: he pushed and pushed, with hands shaking by the exertion; the sword turned from red to white and became scorching, emitting strings of smoke. He clenched his teeth spilling sweat from his forehead, with his wild eyes planted in her inflexible ones.

"Richard NO!"

A just woken Kahlan was storming over them, feared by the savageness written upon both faces of the opponents. They both went distracted by her intromission, but Richard was the first to take advantage and hit Cara on the back of her head with the hilt of his sword. She dropped like a dead body on the ground.

Kahlan rushed to her and gasped seeing her critical conditions: she was lying on a large puddle of blood coming from her arm but mostly from her leg, which had a horrible gash. New streams of red were oozing from her head and her breathing was slight and uneven.

"What did you do to her?" Kahlan screamed distraught, holding the Mord-Sith's head on her lap.

Richard was still panting hard, aching and exhausted; the adrenaline running fast in his veins made him react badly and he yelled back:

"I did what was needed to save your life Kahlan! The only way to stop her was to knock her out. That's what I did!"

She turned to him realizing she had been unfair with him: he was right, but seeing Cara reduced that way froze her up to the core. She wanted to say something to apologize with him, but had no chance since he was already turning his back on her.

"I'll go searching for Zedd, he's in danger."

And he ran away tracking the wizard.

* * *

Richard and Zedd returned after a while, followed by two unarmed and tied Mord-Sith; the wizard had managed to make them tumble in a deep cleft of the ground, covered by magically suspended leaves, rendering the Sisters of the Agiel momentarily unconscious by the fall. Kahlan felt relieved seeing the men coming back safe and ran toward them exclaiming:

"Thanks Creator you're both fine."

She embraced Richard to ensure he was all right and to show him she was sorry about her previous behavior. She wasn't regretting her concern about Cara; rather she was extremely worried about her beaten friend and was barely restraining herself from dragging Zedd to the blonde's bed side and ordering him to heal her instantly.

What she was remorseful about was that she hadn't showed any concern about Richard, whose intervention saved her life from Cara's clutches. Her attentions went all for the blonde who – truth be told - was the one on the ground, while he was standing, even if hurt and upset. The only thing she addressed to him was an accusation about how hard he fought with the Mord-Sith. Every time she thought back to the moment Cara fell like a dead body under his sword, Kahlan shivered.

Richard returned her embrace and looked more relaxed: he caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead smiling at her, asking if everything was quiet during his absence. She nodded.

"Cara is still unconscious, I wrapped her wounds, but she needs to be healed immediately. The gash in her leg is awful."

Richard's face turned dark red: he was pretty sure Kahlan didn't mean to accuse him, nonetheless he felt guilty for what he did to the blonde and judged by the Mother Confessor. It didn't matter either that playing so hard was the only way to succeed in overcoming the force of nature Cara was, or that the Mord-Sith was firmly intentioned to kill them all and wouldn't stop until she achieved her goal. He still felt bad for having hit her so hard.

Zedd approached the lying blonde, removed the outer parts of her uniform to better check her wounds and began to murmur unintelligible soft words, waving his hands upon the inert body. It took him a while and in the end he rose from the fainted warrior looking tired.

"She'll be ok, but will sleep for several hours." The wizard declared. "She needs rest. Her wounds were severe and she has lost a plentiful of blood. Luckily she's unconscious otherwise I don't think I could perform magic on her. Somehow she has been turned against us."

"Yes. And I guess our new friends here can tell us more about what happened to Cara." Richard turned to the two tied Mord-Sith leaning silently behind them.

Kahlan stepped close to them with a sharp look in her eyes: at last she had someone upon who she could slam all the rage and frustration, amassed in the past days. And there were a lot of those. She grabbed the throat of the first Mord-Sith and tightened her grip, planting her icy blue eyes on the red-clad woman's. She wore the harshest Confessor's mask on her face.

"What happened to Cara? Who captured her and why?"

"You'll know nothing from us, filthy Confessor." The Mord-Sith spitted with disdain.

"I want to be merciful with you: you can tell me what I want to know and you'll have a quick death, otherwise I'll confess you, you'll die with agonizing pain and I will know what I want anyway." Both her voice and her face were cold and hard as a stone.

She felt the woman stiffening under her grip and glimpsed the smallest hesitation in the Mord-Sith's eyes, which betrayed her fear, but the captured woman made her mind up and replied:

"A Mord-Sith doesn't fear anything. Confess me, but you won't have the time to get all the information you want."

Kahlan scowled, it was true: after the confession she had only a minute, may be two, before the woman died and it could be not enough to obtain what she needed. But she had no alternatives, so she released her power without further negotiations.

"Command me Mistress." Were the next word cried from the condemned woman, with blacked eyes.

"Who captured Cara and why?"

"Darken Rahl took her, Mistress. He wanted her to do something for him and brought her away with him. They returned to the Temple five days ago and she was injured, but I don't know what they did or where they went. Please forgive me Mis-"

"Stop pleading and answer me! What did he do to her to turn her against us?" Kahlan asked roughly.

"He re-trained and broke her."

"How could he bend a woman like Cara in five days only?"

"He asked the help of… argh…"

"Talk!" The Confessor shook the woman harshly by the shoulders.

"…Sister… a spell… ahhh…"

The woman collapsed, squirming in pain, unable to utter another word and died after a minute of excruciating agony. Kahlan turned to the other Mord-Sith placing the same offer given to her dead sister, but also this woman declined it and went confessed.

"If you want to please me, speed up your answers and skip pleadings for forgiveness. How could Rahl break Cara so fast?"

"He used a spell Mistress. He arranged in order that in the Temple ten days lasted like one outside it."

_Something opposite to what happens in the Palace of the Prophets_, Richard thought, but he remained silent not to waste precious seconds of the interrogation.

"After forty days of torture Cara wasn't still breaking, so he cursed her Agiel and filled it with the pain of all the people she hurt with it in her life. He tortured Cara with that tool and he finally bent her."

"That's awful…" Kahlan was terrified by the fate of her friend… All those days of torture and a weapon driving unimaginable sore… The Confessor's mind floated on this dreadful news.

"He has no magic within himself. How could he perform these spells?" Zedd came in help, trying to obtain most answers possible before it was too late, but the Mord-Sith didn't react to his question.

"Answer him!" Kahlan shrieked frustrated.

"Sisters of the Dark did… urnhh…"

"Don't you dare to die now! Tell me how comes Sisters of the Dark work with him?"

"…They… made… a deal… uhmf…"

"Tell me more!"

But also the second woman dropped to the ground ending her life in waves of devastating pain. They got some information and there was a lot to ponder upon.

Darken Rahl.

He was on the scene again and had gathered his Mord-Sith to serve him, even if he was without magic and without bond to enslave them. Sisters of the Dark were working with him too; he betrayed the Keeper and it was reasonable to think the latter wanted revenge on the former, but somehow they managed to make peace and collaborate once again. Unfortunately Kahlan missed the chance to know how they could reach this agreement. Which promise could have placed Darken to get a new chance from his former Lord?

And then there was Cara.

Cara was captured from Rahl for some mysterious reason, then re-trained and turned against her friends. And it worked damn good, judging by the zeal Cara put on the task to kill them. Kahlan was hoping with all of her heart Zedd could fix this with his magic. But the wizard had an appalled look on his face…

Zedd realized he had already lived this situation in the time he erased with the Spell of Undoing, which he used exactly because he hadn't any other choice to save Cara from the obscure conditioning Darken Rahl placed on her. It would have been interesting reflect on how people tend to act in the same way, even in different realities and conditions. But the wizard felt now no amusement in pondering about the lacking of haphazardness of life, since his blonde friend was grinded by the unavoidability of her fate; a fate he hoped she skipped, but that came back to ask a toll on her.

He prayed Creator this time the magic Rahl used was not so strong like the one he used the previous time. When he inspected Cara in the erased past, he sensed how the magic grasped the Mord-Sith with massive roots of pure evil until her very soul; it seemed impossible to the wizard breaking those choking tentacles and even if someone had the strength to do so, those chains were wrapped so deep and tightened up to her core, that breaking the spell would also mean to break Cara's soul irreparably.

Zedd also prayed not to be placed in front of the dilemma of whether to perform the Spell of Undoing once again or to leave Cara under Rahl's curse. Because he already knew which way he would choose…

He couldn't gamble with the past again, otherwise the Keeper may have a new chance to overthrow the world of the living and this was a price too high. Leaving the manipulated blonde in her miserable condition was the only way: alive but enslaved, deprived of her free will and bent on the tantrums of a wicked man. For a proud woman like Cara this fate was worse than death and Zedd's heart was breaking at the thought of this great warrior friend of his', condemned to such an unworthy destiny.

The wizard couldn't share these thoughts with Richard and Kahlan. They hadn't seen what had happened in the alternative reality and how everything had gone irreparably lost. They would ask him to try whatever to bring Cara back and he wanted the same, with all of himself, he wanted to save her… but he just couldn't.

So he inwardly decided to keep this information to himself: if needed he would carry the weight of this fault on his lonely shoulders.

.

**A/N  
I warned you in the summary guys... things go AWRY for the seeker and his band!**  
**If you like my story, please l****eave a review**. I need them to write faster and better :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Long night**

**(Title from the song "Long night")**

It was sundown when a healed and still unconscious Cara began to softly move; Richard had tied her to a tree, after removing her Agiels. She abruptly awoke and immediately started to burst, boiling in her captivity and screaming threats.

Kahlan's heart clenched, seeing the person she had so much longed to meet again, contorted by the rage and the hatred toward her and the other twosome. The brunette hardly withstood the temptation to drop her Confessor mask and leave the way to the sadness; this evil version of Cara would profit off her weakness and she could not allow that. She distracted her mind thinking that Darken Rahl would pay for what he did to Cara.

Zedd neared to the tied Mord-Sith and laid his hands on her: dark marks emerged on her face, while the blonde was hissing in pain and stiffening her whole body. An oppressive burden fell on the wizard's shoulders: his prayers were unheard. He moved away from Cara and got close to Richard and Kahlan, who were impatiently waiting for the wizard's response some paces away.

"She's in the grip of an insidious magic. It's as dark as I've ever felt before. I can't do anything for her." The wizard was almost crying while speaking words that sounded from him like a death sentence.

"There must be a way to undo whatever was Rahl did to her." Richard insisted with his grandfather.

"I'm sorry Richard but there's none. We have to accept the fact that the Cara we know… is gone forever."

Kahlan gasped and brought her hands to her mouth to restrain the whimpering coming from her throat. She wasn't prepared for words so definitively spoken from a man who always left open ways for hope. After a moment she recomposed her impassive look; she needed to be strong for the sake of them all.

"I can't believe it." Richard argued. "Zedd maybe you need more time to think about this. Maybe there are spells or magic objects in the Wizard's Keep that could help us to bring her back."

But Zedd shook his head with a desolate look in his face. "What Rahl did to her is beyond redemption."

"Why are you all wearing those long faces?" Cara raised her voice to draw their attention. "Richard did you really think my Lord Darken Rahl would send me to you, if he wasn't absolutely sure of my loyalty. He is my only Master and I've been a fool thinking to follow you and your pathetic band of spineless bootlicker's."

Richard strode close to her, his blood already heating. "We will bring you back Cara, no matter what!"

Cara angrily screamed back at him in full voice:

"Are you stupid or what?! Didn't you listen to the wizard? There's no way and there's nothing to bring back. I don't want to be the tamed pet you shaped me anymore, pandering your pointless compassion and blindly following your absurd crusades, to satisfy your childish need to show off your heroism."

She took breath before restarting.

"And I don't want to be the handmaid of that revolting Mother Confessor, or her confident or the best of her _girlfriend's_."

The Mord-Sith spoke this last word looking maliciously in Kahlan's eyes; the Confessor felt compelled to lower the look. Cara smiled and turned back to stare at Richard, talking softer.

"Oh yeah, you all really care for me, I've seen it!" She accused them scorning harshly. "That's why you – the renowned Seeker! - were comfortably hanging back, canoodling with that ungrateful Confessor while happily heading on the way home." She waited a moment before adding the cherry on top. "Leaving me behind."

On both Richard and Kahlan's cheeks crimson circles of shame went pictured; the merciless words marking their minds and fueling their sense of guilt toward Cara, who reprised her accusations.

"Darken Rahl showed me mercy and welcomed me back in his ranks and that's where I want to be. If you are such a friend to me, why don't you respect my choice?"

"Because is not your free choice! He forced you with magic to follow him." Richard shouted facing her, noses almost touching. He felt awfully shaken by the accusation of indifference he had just received and had no one else but this evil Cara to get angry with.

"It wasn't my free choice changing for you as well." She yelled in return. "I did it because you ordered me to, but I didn't want to. I loved being a true Mord-Sith, having control and power, but this wasn't pleasant for you! You wanted me different, compassionate, friendly… You forced me to switch into a creature full of confusion and weaknesses."

Richard was taken aback from this declaration. May be these were the thoughts bothering Cara recently? Irony of the fate, his friend Cara wasn't able to admit her puzzlement with him, whereas his foe Cara was spitting it directly in his face.

"And you, Mother Confessor" Cara spoke the title hissing and wrinkling her nose, with such scorn as Kahlan never heard before. "You are even worse than the Seeker. You offered me your _friendship_ from the highness of your compassion, but what you really wanted was nothing but another little pet on your leash. You wanted to exhibit me, to show how much more loving you are, accepting a sworn enemy within your lines. You wanted to brag yourself."

The Mord-Sith smiled maliciously hoping her words were hitting Kahlan, even if the Confessor's face was impassive, so she laid on her thicker.

"You needed to feel superior, to coddle your ego, to compensate your everlasting sexual frustration… You secretly wanted me to give you some _special attentions_ you know your bashful Seeker will never give to you."

Richard's forehead vein was pulsing fast and when he heard these last words, he lost control and punched Cara hard in the face. She remained a moment coughing with her head dropped on her chest then she raised it, blood trickling from her mouth. She was sniggering and wearing that hideous grin which made Richard's hands itchy by the need to sweep it off with repeated backhands.

"Poor Seeker, you haven't still tasted the pleasure of your love and she's already planning to be unfaithful."

Richard's rage was flying higher and higher; he grabbed her by the hair and shook her, howling directly in her ear "Stop with your filthy lies."

"Tell me Richard, did she miss me when I was away? Was she sad? Did she cry for me? She didn't weep for you in the fog, do you know? Rather she was so happy that we could be alone together and…" Cara slowly licked her upper luscious lip with malicious sensuality, "…without powers."

Richard's eyes widened and he went completely crazy: he started repeatedly punching her in her stomach, still grabbing her blonde strands. Both Kahlan and Zedd rushed to remove him from the tied woman and hardly dragged him away.

"Richard stop! You can't listen to her! She's under Rahl's control, she's just provoking you." Kahlan tried her best to keep her voice steady, but the words Cara spoke had effect on her and she was completely flushed.

Most of those things were lies, but there was also a small part of truth… Kahlan didn't cry for Richard but she did for Cara… She was somehow relieved when she was alone with Cara, but restless when she was with Richard…

She had tried to kiss Cara in the cave… Why in the name of the Creator did she act so? Kahlan hadn't the occasion to ponder upon this event, or maybe she chose not to think about it, the usual mischievous voice insinuated from the back of her mind. Anyway she was still so confused about that: it was just a friendly kiss, wasn't it? But if she needed to ask whether it was or not, the answer wasn't so taken for granted… or it was? Oh Spirits!

Kahlan couldn't afford to mess her mind with this confusion now, she needed to calm Richard and to find a solution for Cara's problem. Richard was still fuming, sitting on the grass with both the Confessor and Zedd holding him. The young man was panting hard, but his rage was slowly fading, leaving room for the guilt which began to rise once again inside him.

He hit a defenseless Cara: this time he had no justification for his behavior. The Mord-Sith had the capacity to drive him out of himself in a moment and if it wasn't for Kahlan and Zedd, he could have done something he would regret for the rest of his life. He felt so weak, so powerless… He took his face in his hands and started sobbing. Kahlan engulfed him, shushing in his ear everything was all right, everything would be fixed. But none of them really believed these words.

"Kahlan tell me." Richard asked crying with his face still buried in Kahlan's neck.

"What?"

"Tell me those were all lies." He avoided detailing the implication of Cara's words.

"How can you ask me? You know that." She bit her lower lip murmuring this half lie.

"Tell me." He begged her.

"Cara and I, we are just friends. Nothing happened between us." She straightened her back and hardened her face while speaking this full lie.

He perceived her stiffness and guessed Kahlan was offended by his question, but he didn't care. He needed her to tell him the truth and now felt relieved because he trusted her and knew she was always sincere with him.

"Thank you Kahlan."

She sighed, hugging him tighter, as if this gesture could mitigate her fault for not being completely honest with him. But she wasn't willing to reveal the secret about Cara's feelings for her and the Confessor herself had a great confusion about her own feelings toward Cara. One thing she knew for sure and she told it to her man:

"I love you Richard."

"I love you too Kahlan."

* * *

Kahlan took the first watch that night and it was going to be a long night.

There was no way to shut Cara's perfidious mouth: she had kept on blaming and threatening and insulting them, all evening long. It was really incredible, because Cara had never before spoken so many words all together, like that day. She was talkative after all, and how! But only when she wanted to.

Kahlan was sitting by the fire, with her back to Cara, who was some paces away sitting as well with her arms behind her back tied to the tree; Zedd and Richard were sleeping on the other side of the fire.

After dining, Richard was exhausted and Kahlan ordered him to sleep: it had been a hard day for him and he needed rest, both physical and emotional. Also Zedd had a bad look and seemed grown ten years older in a day. What happened to Cara had a heavy effect on all of them and they still had no idea about what to do with her.

"Mother Confeeeessor." Cara chirped. The Mord-Sith evidently wasn't willing to let her peacefully deal with the watching task.

"I won't listen to you; I know this is not Cara talking." Kahlan didn't even turn her face.

"This is the true Cara talking, you can bet. The idiotic ghost of a Mord-Sith, holding your hand while you do the first good thing in your life - that is stop living - and sobbing like a hormone disordered teen-ager, that was not the true Cara. That was the abomination you and the Seeker created."

Kahlan turned her head knitting her eyebrows and hissed: "Beware how you talk about my friend." It sounded a strange declaration, since her friend and the criticizer were the same person, but she couldn't let _this_ Cara to say bad things about _her_ Cara.

"Your friend, ha! Do you want to know which thoughts your _friend_ had about you?"

But Kahlan was now staring at the fire again, unwilling to listen to the provocation and resolved to remain in the spot where she was; she couldn't allow getting close to this evil creature, whose speech was more burning than the flames in front of her.

"Do you want to know how many times she touched herself with your name on her lips? How much she wished it was your mouth pleasing her and not her fingers? Which perverse things she wanted to do to you, with so much desire, she could barely stay beside you, without ripping off your clothes and screwing you?"

"Shut up! I don't want to listen to your lies." Kahlan shut her eyes and plugged her ears with her hands, feeling a warm liquid creeping in her lower belly. Kahlan knew Cara was a passionate woman, but she never lingered upon her _private activities_. Hearing she was the protagonist in the blonde's fantasies made her blush, but much more embarrassment was added as Kahlan unwillingly admitted to herself the shameful curiosity she had about those reveries.

"If you weren't her Lord Rahl's beloved, she would have done it, but - what an unlucky fate! - you were the only woman she couldn't have. She was so horny by you she didn't even care about the confession. She would die to fuck you, without a second thought. Such an imbecile!"

"Stop it. Stop it." Kahlan was balling into herself more and more, but she couldn't escape from this torture. The emotional and the physical sensations these words were eliciting in Kahlan were unpredictable and the Confessor didn't know how to deal with them, torn between wanting to know more and not wanting to know anything.

Cara laughed loud. "You are such a prude! I will never understand how could _that_ Cara feel so desperately attracted by a ridiculous woman like you."

Kahlan was holding her head between her knees with shut eyes and ears, but it was pointless. The poisonous words _this_ Cara was spilling directly into her heart were making her suffer more than how much her Agiels did that morning.

"Because you know you drove her desperate, don't you? You know you turned her so crazy about you, she had offered her life in exchange for the Breath of Life for you?"

Even if Confessors can't read Mord-Sith, Kahlan had learnt in time to understand _her_ Cara's signs. But _this_ Cara mixed truths and lies with such an admirable talent it was impossible to discern one from the other and she always managed to bring confusion and discord with that sharp tongue. Besides this last statement matched perfectly with what Kahlan already suspected and the Confessor felt, with a pang to her heart, it was the truth. But the evil Mord-Sith wasn't still done and kept on digging in the brunette's heart.

"She loved you and she showed it in so many ways… You're a Confessor, you are made of pure love and compassion, how could you fail noticing the things she did for you?" Cara's voice was now accusing. And Kahlan felt wet fire brimming over her eyes. Once again the truth was more hurtful than a lie.

"I'm not talking about saving your life in battle or similar acts. Those things were owed, Richard ordered her to protect you. But she did things nobody asked her and even less expected her to do. She came back from the Underworld as a baneling; she told it was to protect Richard, sure, but it's you she was staring at while saying this. She humbled herself fitting into a pink dress and rhyming all day, exclusively to save your life in Rothemberg. She was about to pierce her heart to give you some more hours of air in that fucking tomb. She talked about her father to fix you, when the presence of yours was bothering you. She learnt the Night Wisp's language to accomplish the task you gave her… Should I go on?"

All these things were true and were tearing Kahlan apart.

A stream of tears was running down her cheeks and her breath was running fast. She never connected the dots, never realized how much Cara cared for her, how much the blonde was suffering because of her. If before Kahlan didn't want to turn her head not to give _this_ Cara the opportunity to tease her, now she wouldn't turn because she was ashamed and feared to confront the Mord-Sith face to face.

She shut her eyes again, but _her_ Cara's face and voice were on her mind.

"_I wish you could have been there. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."_

Kahlan remembered these words Cara spoke, talking about the Night Wisp's birth. In that moment the blonde was wearing the warmest and most whole-hearted smile Kahlan had ever seen upon her face, with her sea-green eyes slightly glistening…

Cara wanted to share the most beautiful thing in her life… just with her.

These were probably the words closest to an explicit declaration Cara could ever dare. Indeed the Mord-Sith stepped away immediately after speaking them, probably feeling ashamed for showing her emotions so clearly.

But Kahlan hadn't realized the truth…

Or instead she did?

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, unconsciously, had she understood? Had she perceived there was something unspoken behind Cara's words?

_This_ Cara gave her the answer.

"You knew it. You knew _I_ loved you. But you preferred to ignore it. It was easier. And you could maintain your dear _friend_ selfishly close to you, without messing things between you two."

Kahlan felt defeated and couldn't do anything else but drop her head on her chest, sobbing in her sorrow and feeling a keen blade of guilt deeply planted in her soul.

* * *

Richard had the last watch. Zedd woke him and reported that Cara had tried to tease him all the time, but over this nothing happened. The wizard suggested him not to listen to the provocation the Mord-Sith would certainly toss against him.

Easier said than done.

Richard knew very well how Cara could be indefatigable and endure several sleepless nights without even blinking; he also knew how stubborn she was and when she aimed a goal, nothing in the world could turn her away. And now _he_ was her goal: it was a challenge for her and during the day he had lost the firsts two rounds, getting carried away with her. That was exactly what she wanted from him: to drive him out of himself.

He glimpsed Kahlan in her bedroll and though her face looked peaceful, she was moving and he guessed her sleep was disturbed, probably by the happenings of the previous day and may be by her watch alone with Cara. He inspired deeply and took his place near the fire, while Cara was staring at him and smiling widely.

"Did you sleep well Seeker?" He pretended not to hear her.

"The Mother Confessor and I have chatted a lot tonight. It was really amusing." He could see her smug smirk as if he had eyes in the back of his head, but didn't allow her to upset him.

"She's realizing it, Richard. Your time with her is running out." He grunted, knitting his eyebrows: he didn't want to listen to her, but couldn't help. Anyway he kept his mouth sealed.

"Do you still think you'll get married with her? Because you must know, she's turning away from you. You don't deserve her, she's really too much for you."

His mouth broke open and he growled, sparks already lighting within him. "You don't know anything about me and Kahlan, stop blabbing."

"Even an idiot could see that you're badly assorted! She's a queen and you are a woodsman: what do you have in common with her?"

"I love her and she loves me, this is what we have in common! Something you will never comprehend."

"Oh yeah I was forgetting, I don't know anything about love…." Richard sensed the smallest drop of sadness spoken in these words, but paid no attention to it; it was just another of her teasing and he didn't want to waste other words on it. But Cara thought differently.

"You can't measure up with her. Perhaps now she thinks she's in love with you, but soon she will realize you're not enough for her and she'll break your heart." He shut again his mouth, unwilling to give her further satisfaction in this teasing.

"I want to spare you the biggest delusion in your life. Around you there's nobody with enough stomach to tell you the hard truth, but I am! You know I've always been the one who didn't mince words in criticizing you, without fearing to offend your sensible tender heart."

"So you expect me to thank you for your generosity?" He turned his head with a puzzled look; he didn't understand where she wanted to bring him.

"I expect you to open your eyes Seeker, you're unworthy of being with her." She remarked smiling wickedly.

New sparks of fury crackling behind his eyelids, he flared from his nostrils and turned again, focusing on the fire in front of him. Doing his best to forget about the demon tied to the tree behind him.

"To be the Seeker of Truth you really lie a lot to yourself, ignoring my words. You've already seen how far she has turned from you in the past days. Something has changed between you two and you know it, but you go on pretending everything is all right. Did you see her smile when she eyed me yesterday before I attacked her? It was so wide she was almost touching her ears with the corners of her delicious mouth. Doesn't this suggest you anything?"

Richard stood up abruptly. The sparks turned into tiny tongues of fire; he hated when Cara implied this idea that Kahlan had feelings… _more than friendly_ for the Mord-Sith. He thought of what Kahlan told him few hours ago _"I love you Richard."_ and grasped on these words with all of himself.

"Hold up Cara!" He said turning his head to her, staring angrily at her.

She also stood up and reciprocated his look. The words he spoke reinforced the evil in her hideous grin, which drove him crazy.

"Is this a sensitive spot Seeker?"

"I told you to hold your tongue!"

"Sorry, but my tongue is too talented to keep it still. If you want I can show you one trick or two that can make Kahlan beg you to ravish her again and again. Who knows? May be this would save you from losing her."

Richard flushed with rage, shame and arousal all together; he dashed to Cara and held her collar shaking her brusquely and planting his eyes on hers, their faces an inch apart.

"SHUT UP!"

Her smile turned further mischievous and she got close to him, full lips slightly touched his cheekbones. He felt hot breath on his face and inhaled the intoxicating leather scent coming from Cara with a little dizziness.

"You are so tense Richard, I'm sure my tongue could help you too." The sensual purr sneaked in his ear, followed by her tongue, which licked his earlobe. Then she nibbled it softly and he felt enveloped in the seducing game Cara was playing with him, hardening below. The tongues of fire inside him became a blaze of ardent passion.

She faced him with her confident smug grin, captured his lips in hers and began to kiss him slowly, whereas he remained still, astonished and for some mysterious reason incapable of flinching. Her tongue was sliding, placing slow circles from one side to the other of his lower lip. Then she sucked it in her mouth and he moaned in pleasure, feeling his manhood stretching harder.

She was right: he had amassed a quantity of tension and had no chance to release it. Now he was paying the toll of his frustration. She plunged her warm tongue inside his mouth and he gave up the attempt to prevent her entrance. She was leading him exactly where she wanted without any effort; he was enslaved to her will, even if she was the one tied. She turned her kiss rougher and moved her tongue fiercely inside him, exploring his whole mouth, biting coarsely his upper lip and lustfully licking the lower one immediately after.

He felt himself drifting further and pressed his body on hers against the tree, fumbling with his hands all over her, fondling her breasts, roaming on her waists, grabbing her backside. He felt an irresistible hunger, a compelling need to taste her, to have her. Her lips were impossibly soft and so much inviting…

She lifted her leg to push him closer to her sex and there he leant, showing her the evidence of his arousal. She wickedly smiled within the kiss learning how hard he wanted her and let him brush his thirsty lips on hers. She rubbed her hips against him, groaning at the feeling of his swollen crotch against her center. He released her mouth and began to place wet kisses and sucking on her neck, grabbing firmly her lifted thigh with his hand and increasing the rocking of his hips against her. His hands lowered to unlace his trousers; Cara backed her waist leaving him the room to free his special weapon, and swayed her hips inviting him to undo her pants as well, which thing he hurriedly began to do. She rolled her head back satisfied: she was winning.

He kissed and licked her collar bone, then pointed to her cleavage where swollen mounds rose and fell deliciously fast. Before his lips reached their destination Richard's eyes fell on the red leathers embracing those awesome breasts and in a lucky moment of lucidity he recalled who was the woman he was heavy petting with. He jumped back completely flushed, panting in confusion and arousal, holding his trousers and fumbling to tie them again.

"Oh Richard don't stop." She mocked him with false disappointment. "Your making out is definitely dorky, but I can help you to improve if we work it out."

The omnipresent smirk was waiting for him on her face and the teasing tone was hitting him once again. She wasn't affected by the excitement like he was; she was perfectly in control. He felt utterly ashamed for his weakness and for the betrayal toward Kahlan, who was sleeping nearby unaware; the Seeker remained speechless with short breath and trembling limbs.

"I should have expected it. You're a coward!" She was spitting all her disdain. He was still stunned and felt in the middle of a hurricane; a hurricane named Cara.

"You're spineless! You will never win against me! You are weak, pathetic, useless. You aren't worth Darken Rahl's little finger!" Anger, confusion, nervousness, excitement were swelling like enormous bubbles inside him, looming over him and he had no control on them now.

"You are incapable to kill me, to fuck me, you're good for nothing!" She was ragingly shouting louder and louder.

He felt like seeing himself from outside; he eyed the mask of loathing on the face of the man standing in front of Cara, holding tight the hilt of the Sword of Truth, but couldn't do anything about it and she was teasing him more and more.

"I won't kill you Richard, I will _destroy_ you! I will force you to watch while I torture the Mother Confessor until she'll beg me to finish her. It will happen sooner or later, you know it. You can't prevent it."

Richard saw the man unsheathing the sword, already shining white by his rage, approaching slowly to the tied woman. If only she would cease her provoking…

"I will rape her to death then I'll climax in ripping life from that disgusting bitch and will bathe on her filthy blood. You will have a place in the first line to witness my victory, while I taste my revenge on you bastards."

Cara was completely out of herself and Richard as well. He raised his sword over his head.

"Come on Seeker do it. Kill your friend. Kill me!"

He hesitated with trembling hands.

"DO IT!"

And he did. He slashed down the sword with all of his strength.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 - Goodbye**

**(Title from the song "Goodbye")**

Kahlan woke up with the first rays of the sunrise. She had had a bad time sleeping and felt she was more tired than she was when she went to bed. She propped up on her elbow to check Richard and Cara and see how they got by for the night, but the Seeker wasn't there and the tree where Cara was tied, was empty. She felt a shudder coursing all over her and immediately perceived something wrong had happened during the night.

She stood up and woke Zedd with a worried look; the wizard was deeply sleeping and needed some moments to focus on the seriousness of the situation. They ran in opposite directions calling out both to Richard and Cara, but nobody answered them. Kahlan ran faster roaming all around to find whatever trail she could of the disappeared twosome; sweat was trickling down on her back and she couldn't set herself free from the awful foreboding that something had gone irreparably awry.

Then she saw him.

Richard was sitting at the foot of a tree with his head dropped between his knees, arms wrapped around his legs. Kahlan called out Zedd to alert him she found Richard. She rushed to the crouched young man, applying to him, but he remained still. She knelt near him and shook his shoulder, realizing he was sobbing.

"Richard what's going on?" Hints of panic were already flooding through her words.

"I'm sorry." He hummed.

"For what Richard? What happened?" She felt her heartbeats turning heavier. "Where is Cara?"

"I… I… She…"

She shook him violently and forced his teary eyes into hers, filled with cold and steel resolution.

"What did you do to Cara?" Harsh words echoed from her mouth.

He stared at her beautiful face, reading the concern in her features and doubting once again, about the true nature of the feelings Kahlan had about Cara.

"She's gone."

Kahlan gasped in dread and the man thought back at the happenings occurred few hours before.

.

"_Come on Seeker do it. Kill your friend. Kill me!"_

_He hesitated with trembling hands._

"_DO IT!"_

_And he did. He slashed down the sword with all of his strength._

_He howled and planted the Sword of Truth deeply into the ground an inch apart from where Cara was standing. It took all of his will to avoid furrowing the Mord-Sith in two, but somehow he succeeded._

_She was at last silenced and eyes shut, probably expecting to be dead or agonizing by now, barely realizing she was still alive and unscathed._

_Richard was gasping loud and crumbled on his knees in front of her, clinging on the handle of his sword. He cried desperately, venting away his fury and a rain of burning tears flowed from his eyes, slowly extinguishing the fire of anger, which threatened to burst his soul. He remained this way for what seemed an eternity, but in the end his mind returned clear. He heard in his head again the soft words Sister Verna spoke to him many time ago. The same words which helped him dealing with Kahlan recently:_

"_You must use your emotions to your own advantage, don't oppose them; make them your allies, don't let them turn against you. Learn to dominate them, or they will dominate you."_

_He had just escaped the risk of being ruled by his anger and driven to an unforgivable mistake, but barely. He couldn't run the same risk again. He couldn't risk Cara's life. Because even if this person in front of him wasn't the same Cara he knew, she was still his friend and he would regret forever if he hurt her. He couldn't allow her to stay beside him, tempting him all the time, until she managed to get killed by him. Or worse until she caught the chance to break free and kill Kahlan in the horrible way she was planning._

_A chilling quiver ran down his spine remembering that fearful speech about Cara's intention towards Kahlan and made him finally realize what he had to do. He recalled also the words the true Cara - his sincere friend - had spoken to him quite a few times in the past:_

"_You always let your emotions drive your actions, but you'll soon have to learn how leading means also accepting compromises and sometimes they are… displeasing."_

_Yeah, displeasing. Cara was a smart woman and Richard felt in that moment, more than ever, how much he missed her; her pragmatism and her impartiality. She was the right-hand he needed and the friend he loved. He made a vow to himself: he would try to do whatever to bring Cara back and to take revenge on Darken Rahl for all this shit he made to her. But now he had made his decision and would not change his mind._

_At the same moment he chose that resolution, he knew Kahlan would be mad at him, but he had no alternatives and it was perfectly clear to him that it had to be done, no matter how much difficult it was. He cared for Cara and was willing to bear the cost of this hard choice for her; he would not oppress the Confessor or the wizard with the weight of this uncomfortable act, because he felt it was exclusively his responsibility: Cara was his Mord-Sith. Richard feared the cost of his imminent action could break him, but his honest heart told him this was the right thing to do and he would not hesitate in putting Cara's safety before his'._

_He extracted the sword from the ground and cut the ropes tiding Cara. She was astonished and mute._

"_Run away."_

_She remained still, staring at him with wide eyes._

"_RUN AWAY NOW!"_

_This time she obeyed to her former Lord and darted in the woods without a word._

_She was gone, perhaps forever. An infinite sadness laid on Richard and he wandered around the forest until he found a massive tree upon which roots he sank, waiting for the dawn and desperately grieving for his lost friend._

* * *

Richard told Kahlan and a just arrived Zedd, what happened some hours ago, how Cara teased him harder than ever and how he nearly killed her, avoiding it, but only by a hair's breadth. He confessed he had released her, therefore now she was vanished again.

Richard lacked the courage to tell how Cara had tried and almost succeeded in seducing him; he was so ashamed and Kahlan looked already so much freaked out… one day he would admit this fault, but not today.

After hearing the end of Richard's speech Zedd closed his eyes and pinched his nose between his fingers, sighing loud and knitting the wrinkles of his forehead. Kahlan widened her eyes and dropped on her knees, turning suddenly pale as a ghost and exhaling:

"No…"

"I'm sorry Kahlan. I had to." These words sounded so poor, so insufficient to him, but he had nothing to add.

"How could you?" She slurred, shaking her head incredulously.

"I had no other choice Kahlan… It was too dangerous, we-"

"Who gave you the right to decide for her?" Kahlan's voice was shifting from bewildered to enraged and her face was assuming the grim features of the judging Mother Confessor.

Richard caught this change and thought he couldn't allow being pressed in the corner, otherwise the fracture between them could turn permanent. He couldn't allow being put in the position to justify the actions of that night. He squared his shoulders and schooled his face, returning Kahlan's intense look.

"Cara joined this quest because of me; it was me who ordered her to protect you at the cost of her life. The responsibility of what happened to her is mine and mine is the right to decide how to deal with this mess."

"No way! You should have talked with us, seek advice with us!" She replied angrily, but feeling a needle sting of guilt toward Richard, who ignored the foremost reason which made Cara sacrifice her life for Kahlan.

"Do you think I liked to do this?!" His heat rose and the same did his voice. "Do you think I'm happy I've sent her away? Or that was nice for me to be brought out of control until I nearly split her in two with my sword?"

"You've been impulsive! Darken Rahl could torture her, kill her… Creator only knows what he could do to her, since she hasn't fulfilled the task of killing us. And you let her go! You should have waited and-"

"No Kahlan my mind was perfectly clear." He interrupted her holding her shoulders and knitting his eyebrows, firmly staring directly into her troubled orbs. "This was the only way because it was too dangerous for all of us, including Cara, to bring her with us. We just could not watch over her every minute of the day and the night, and I wasn't willing to fall in temptation of hitting her again or to see her wriggle out and kill you or Zedd." He breathed in, tightening the grip on his lover's shoulders and trying to guess her reaction, but unsuccessfully. So he kept on explaining his reasons.

"I know she's in danger under Rahl's control, but I don't think he has invested so much time and energy in training her, just to kill her a second after she returns. He needs allies and cannot afford the luxury to waste a warrior like Cara."

Richard was inwardly praying with all of his soul he was right. He knew Cara concretely risked her life going back to Rahl, but he relied on the attitude his brother had, to act for profit before passion. Besides, there was no guarantee about this. This responsibility was weighing exclusively on the Seeker's shoulders.

"Listen to me Kahlan," The young man reprised. "We all care for her and this is the reason for which she has so much power over us; we are under prepared to face her and you know it. I've seen how much her words have affected you yesterday, don't deny it."

Kahlan lowered her gaze from his Seeker's eyes and felt the fury bursting into her for being put under his inquiry. But she was raised as a Confessor and this meant she was rational and impartial in first instance. Thus her mind told her that Richard was right; there was no way to bring Cara with them without being all exposed to extreme danger. Nonetheless her heart told her Richard did an unforgivable mistake sending her away, alone and under such an evil spell.

The only thing the brunette could manage to do was wrench from Richard's grip and run away in tears putting distance between her and the man she loved, but that she wasn't sure she could ever forgive for what he did to Cara. Richard called to her and began to move after her, but Zedd grabbed him by his forearm to stop him.

"Let her go Richard. She needs room to accept all this."

"I wish I could help her." The Seeker muttered distressed.

"Now she needs to be alone. And you are the last person she wants around." A hard truth. The young man sighed: he knew Kahlan was strong enough to face this pain, but he was afraid their love could feel the effect of this ordeal. The furious look in Kahlan's eyes wasn't something he could easily forget.

"I'm proud of you Richard." Zedd uttered.

The Seeker turned confused to his grandfather; he was expecting to be blamed by him, for falling so easily in the trick Cara brought him into and for letting his rage rule over him, bringing him dangerously close to the irreparable. The wizard guessed his puzzlement and explained himself.

"Cara wanted to put us one against the other and she's been formidable in trying to do this, but you left her no way. And you haven't left her insidious provocations to destroy your will. You won against her, you won against Rahl. You took a choice as hard as I cannot imagine, with courage and responsibility. You faced Kahlan's rage keeping your chin high because you know you did what had to be done. You are a great man Richard Cypher."

Richard felt Zedd's affection and consideration soothing, at least in part, his aching heart and reassuring him that he chose the right way. He sagged his shoulders, still taut by the contrast with Kahlan and dismissed the shoes of the confident leader, to show the insides of the frail, doubting man.

Zedd came close to him and folded him with his slender arms.

"Will she ever forgive me?" the Seeker sobbed in tears.

"She will Richard. Trust her."

* * *

Kahlan ran and ran without realizing how long and for how far; she found a hiding place under a shelter of rocks and sank there, dropping her head between her knees in the exact position she found Richard before. She cried something like a million tears and screamed her lament for the unfairness of Cara's fate.

She had no idea how long it took her to come back to the earth, after her grievous incursion in the depth of her wounded soul, but those were certainly several hours. She came back to the camp, sadly dragging her feet with heavy heart and forlorn features. When she faced Richard he felt his insides clench, seeing her so much distraught face.

"You are right Richard, we couldn't bring her with us… But she would have gone to the end of the world and back for you. There was nothing she wouldn't have done for you and you… gave her up. You failed her; she's your friend and you sent her away… alone, unprotected…"

Kahlan's face was blank and her voice empty, but the words were heavier than a boulder and slammed the Seeker on the ground with the weight of the Mother Confessor's judgment. Richard gathered his strength one more time, to lift from this burden.

"When we'll arrive in Aydindril we'll set searching squads and rake all the known lands to find her. And then we'll bring her home and heal her, I don't care if Zedd says it's impossible. We will heal her and I will throw myself to her feet begging for her forgiveness for what I've done to her this night. But I won't justify myself further, because what I did was for the best of all of us and you know it."

Kahlan lowered her face to the ground, partially conceding him the point, but the accusing look pictured on her features never left her face.

A rift had opened between them and nobody could say whether and when it could ever be closed. This time there was no Stone of Tears which could magically repair what had gone ripped.

* * *

The morning after, while gathering the camp equipment Kahlan found a bundle on the ground, near the pots. She took it and felt crossed by a surge of burning electricity, short circuiting her nerves, blinding her mind. She loosened the grip panting and dropping the object.

She had just found Cara's Agiels; Richard had taken them away from the blonde the previous day. Kahlan thought she had ran out all her tears, but she was wrong and some salty drops began to roll down her cheeks without her even realized it. She remembered a time, ages ago, when Cara found her weeping upon a sword. The blonde had told her this was weakness and asked her if she wanted to be taught to put aside her feelings to be stronger. Even in that moment, in her way, Cara had been gentle and helping. Cara had always been close to her when she needed. Cara was the rock upon which Kahlan had always relied every time she felt like crumbling sand. And now she was gone, the Confessor repeated inwardly for the thousandth time, sighing loudly.

But the Mord-Sith wouldn't want to see her this way, Kahlan thought, reduced to a tears-soaked ragdoll, incapable to take a step without whimpering, like a pared-knees wimpy child. The blonde wanted her strong and proud. Cara never gave up her duty of protecting Richard, even when her heart was aching for an impossible love and the Confessor placed with herself the pledge of being as much strong as her friend.

So the brunette straightened her back and lifted her chin. She clenched her teeth and picked the bundle, withstanding the pain and dropping it in her pack.

"When she'll return" Kahlan appointed to herself "she'll have her weapons back."

* * *

The three companions re-started their travel heading to Aydindril, deprived of a friend, but each one of them supplied with a different tort made to Cara, for which none of them could forgive himself.

This wasn't the Mord-Sith's quest, but she joined them even if they didn't want her. Even Richard: he trusted her from the beginning, but was worried by the difficulty her presence would bring in his merry band.

Cara stubbornly followed them and became a fundamental part of the team, fighting a battle that wasn't hers and giving all of herself to the mission, even when she didn't share methods or understand priorities. She came to make the difference between succeeding and failing. She came to find an honored place in their hearts.

And now she was the one who paid with her life, the price for putting herself on their side.

.

**A/N**

**Hi guys. Thanks everybody for leaving reviews, they are important to me and I read all of them. So please, if you like my story, support me.  
I'm not deaf to your pleadings and, being a C/K fic reader in first instance, I want the same thing you want.  
So please trust me and keep on following the Thunder.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 – Another side of me**

**(Verse from the song "Leave me alone")**

Zafire's mouth was watering. She was foretasting the moment she could at last put her hands on that exasperating sorceress Amelia and made her pay for… for just being herself! Ever unnerving, constantly shrilling, impossibly floundering. For the lacking of respect the Sister showed toward the Lord Rahl and his Mord-Sith. For escaping from her watch three times, which caused Zafire likewise punishing sessions personally delivered from her Master. And though it is said that Mord-Sith love pain as much as pleasure, Zafire preferred much more the second than the first.

Darken Rahl gave his trust to Zafire committing her to the custody of this Sister Amelia, who was to be considered both as ally and as a foe, but mostly was the primary element for the success of his plans. And due to this damn sorceress' fault, the black haired Mord-Sith made a poor figure to her Master. Amelia was one woman alone, certainly not as strong as Zafire, plus wearing a Rada-Han… the Mord-Sith still didn't understand how could this bizarre person, wriggle out of her grip. But now all these things belonged to the past and her Lord Rahl promised her she would have the chance of taking a little fun with this damn Sister of the Dark.

.

Amelia rushed in her usual unceremonious way inside the office where Darken Rahl was sitting at his desk; Zafire was standing on his left side.

"Darken Rahl you made a big mistake! My Lord won't overlook your default!" Her bothering voice was a keen squeak and the words flooded so fast that they could barely be understood.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sister Amelia." He mocked her talking low and slowly, playing the fool with her.

"I did everything you asked me!" She shrilled "I healed the boy. I helped you to find and bend your traitor Mord-Sith Cara Mason. And I did it as fast as you requested." She was counting on her fingers the favors bestowed. "And you have done the only thing my Lord forbade you."

He leant on his seat to put himself more comfortable, sliding his back lower on the backrest and placing both his hands on his chest, mirrored fingertips touching.

"But you denied me the privilege of knowing why your Lord forbade me to try to kill the man who was my ruin and wasted the Keeper's plans as well." The tyrant calmly argued.

"The Keeper didn't tell me the reason, but he clearly ordered that the Seeker and the Mother Confessor's lives must be spared at the moment." She was now fumbling her hands all around herself, a slight tinge of doubt in her voice. "And you have sent that blonde Mord-Sith to wipe them out."

"Though she hasn't still come back, I guess Cara has already sent them to your Lord by now, may be you could ask him if they happily reached their destination. Oh but you cannot…" He scorned her, pretending to be worried. "I'm sorry but the adorable collar around your neck is in the way of your chatting with your dear Lord, isn't it?"

All in a sudden Amelia completely changed her approach: she stood stiff and perfectly still with clenched fists. Her voice turned icy and husky, while her eyes went fixed on Rahl, staring at him with firm intensity full of hatred perceivable even behind her red veil.

"Don't you dare scorn the Keeper Darken Rahl, or you'll regret it!"

_Wrong words_, he thought. He jumped upright off-hand blatantly sending the chair to the floor, and gritted his teeth.

"I think _you_ will regret your lacking of regard toward me, dear Sister Amelia." He screamed to her, waiting a moment before hissing the following contemptuous words. "Do you really think I believed, even for a second, that the Keeper was willing to grant me amnesty? It smelled like a trick from the very first moment. Now, you have given me what I wanted and I don't need to suffer your presence anymore."

Master Rahl tilted his head to Zafire, who rushed and grabbed Sister Amelia by her shoulder, forcing her on to the knees. The veiled woman bustled to set herself free from the steely grip, but it was completely pointless. She sank to the floor and looked upward at Darken.

"From this moment you are a guest of this Temple's dungeons Sister Amelia." He declared triumphantly. "Mistress Zafire is eager to take care of you and show you the renowned Mord-Sith's hospitality."

"You can't do this! You need my magic." Amelia argued with boldness, though some nervousness was perceivable in her tone.

The tyrant snickered, amused at seeing this red beetle under his foot, ready to be splattered. He hated that confidence in the Sister's voice and foretasted for a second the pleasure of ripping that certainty out of her.

"Oh, I'm not willing to renounce to your magic. You've proved to be extremely efficient and performing with it. Zafire has developed a certain _attachment_ to you and has offered herself voluntary to train you, break you and bend you to my will. So you'll keep on spreading your spells for me, after all."

"My Sisters will come after me!" Amelia retorted, unwilling to succumb. While still holding the kneeling woman, Zafire had to admit that despite the difficult sorceress' position, there was no trace of fear in her voice, but only concern about the endangered succeeding of her Lord's plans.

"They don't know where we are and you can't communicate with them or with your precious Lord. Before they can find you, you'll be already willing to die to serve me." Rahl was wearing a wider and wider satisfied smirk.

"You have been a fool allowing me to collar you. You aren't strong enough, much less clever enough to break free." And Darken took the key of the Rada-Han hanging over his neck and placed it into the hands of Mistress Zafire. The Mord-Sith bowed her head and smiled in appreciation for the trust her Master was giving her; she put the key in the inner pocket of her leathers.

Darken came close to Amelia and grabbed her chin, smiling mischievously and forcing her to look in his wicked icy eyes, but that damn red veil was preventing him to savor the fear in hers, so he grabbed it and brusquely ripped it off.

A cascade of shining wavy auburn hair swooshed around her face. A couple of the brightest biggest emerald green eyes Rahl had ever seen, flashed him; rosy lips were twisted in a grimace of disdain, stressed by the nobility of her high cheekbones. Darken was amazed by her undeniable beauty, which he didn't expected from such a fazing pipsqueak. He remained a moment gazing at this awesome face, upon which he didn't find the scary look for which he was searching.

Then he broke the eye contact and left her, ordering Zafire to bring the Sister to her new _lodge_ and begin the training session as soon as possible.

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**A/N**  
**very short chapter (one of the last, i give you my word) looking for a moment elsewhere from the not-anymore-so-merry band.**  
**i know you want more and i'm going to give it to you, no doubt.**  
**but leave some reviews; they feed my fantasy and i need it so much to go on with this story!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 – Trapped in his arms, safe without harm**

**(Verse from the song "Hideaway")**

After the Seeker's group obtained three horses, it took them two more weeks to reach Aydindril and during this period they weren't attacked or ambushed by anyone. They all spoke very little in those days and never about Cara.

Kahlan refused to cry again in front of the men, but did it sometimes when she was alone. She knew that once at home, she would have even less opportunities to grieve for her loss, since her people expected the Mother Confessor to take the reins of the country, lead and rule them with sure hand. It was her duty, her place in the world and she accepted it; it was what she was raised for. So the brunette forced herself to put aside her sadness and wore the heavy mask of cold detachment, proper to the Mother Confessor, Queen of Aydindril, highest authority of the Midlands.

A cool blanket of indifference had dropped between her and Richard; Kahlan wasn't able to forgive him even if she understood his reasons and her rational part accepted that what he did was the only possible way. But her heart thought differently and she held against him the grudge for preventing her to do more to save Cara. To do something to be forgiven for her fault of being insensible and unwilling of seeing the feelings the blonde showed her. And ultimately to be forgiven for being the reason of Cara's capture.

Confessor and Seeker didn't share any kiss, or hug or any other contact; their hands occasionally touched, but none of those touches brought the relief or the warmth they used to do once. None of them smiled any longer.

Those were the longest and saddest two weeks Richard could ever remember in his life.

.

At last after days of somber riding they eyed the dome of the Confessor's Palace and the tower of the Wizard's Keep. A relived faint smile – the first in weeks - slipped out of Kahlan's mouth as she saw her adored home in the distance.

Some sentinels glimpsed the band outside the walls of Aydindril and joined them, escorting the threesome at the doors of the capital of the Midlands, not before sending message at the Confessor's Palace that the Queen had at last returned home.

When they passed the massive granite gates of the city Kahlan felt an incredible emotion. It made her heart stir hearing the shrilling of the trumpets and the rattling of the drums echoing at their passage. She felt soothed when, riding along the roads that led to the Palace, she was encircled by the hundreds of merry greetings and wishes poured down on her from the packed crowd, who showed the loving attachment they had for their Queen.

The whole Home Guard knelt on the ground respectfully bowing their heads, while she dismounted from her steed and the entire court exploded in applauses at her appearance in the courtyard; flowers and blessings were tossed on her. The Council came in grand style to greet and thank the Mother Confessor, the Seeker of Truth and the Wizard of the First Order for succeeding in their mission of defeating the Keeper, as the heroes of the Midlands stepped into the main hall of the Palace.

All Aydindril was on feast, but Kahlan's mind was constantly thinking of Cara and that the blonde should have been there too, receiving the honors due to her.

When they entered in the First Chair Room, a woman called Kahlan's name and ran toward her with spread arms; the brunette needed a moment to recall who this person was and where she had seen her before. She was a young cerulean eyed and honey brown haired woman, wearing a black Confessor dress; she was repeatedly blinking her teary eyes while approaching...

Dennee!

Though wearing the body of another woman, she was her little sister. Kahlan tossed herself into the embrace her beloved sister was stretching to her and melted in her limbs, feeling happy for the first time in weeks. They remained hugged for at least five minutes and Kahlan reluctantly released the younger Confessor from her arms. When they stared at each other both their faces were wet with tears and they were so overwhelmed by the emotion of this so much longed reunion, they couldn't utter any word. There were too many things to say and neither of the two knew where to begin. But from now on, they had all the time in the world to stay close.

* * *

After the welcoming ceremony and all the formal greetings, the three heroes of the Midlands were escorted to their chambers to take rest and prepare for the celebrations of the next day. Dennee never left Kahlan's side and the older sister constantly held her hand, feeling how this bond gave her the joy and the energy she needed so much.

The younger Confessor had ordered to prepare the Royal Bathroom for Kahlan and the older sister took complete advantage of this spectacular luxury. It was a room as big as some inns where the brunette had slept in the past two years, adorned with white sculptures, enlightened by impressive stained glass windows and crystal chandelier, furnished with massive marble pools from which a tepid steam rose, and around which scented candles and bunches of colored flowers contributed giving a dreamy atmosphere.

Kahlan immerged herself in a warm pool which scented of lavender and thoroughly brushed every part of herself from the grime amassed in the past weeks, wishing it was as easy to wash her sorrows away. Her sister was cuddling her, staying on her back and brushing her long raven hair. Dennee gently massaged her scalp, just like they reciprocally did when they were girls by the Springs of Fingal, outside the walls of Aydindril. Kahlan was completely relaxed and after something like an hour of lazily soaking, she realized she hadn't spoken any single word, concentrated as she was in the solacing attentions Dennee was giving her.

"Kahlan is there anything wrong?" The younger Confessor interrupted the long silence. She had felt a sort of bitterness in Kahlan from the first instant she saw her, and suspected there was something more than tiredness behind it.

"No. Why are you asking?" Kahlan's voice was husky by the long silence, but steady.

"Sister do you remember you can't lie to a Confessor?"

Kahlan had forgotten she couldn't hide anything from Dennee. And probably even if her sister wasn't a Confessor, the younger woman wouldn't fail noticing her upheaval; she knew her too well. But Kahlan couldn't figure how to tell her sister what was making her sad, without hurting her. And the last thing Kahlan wanted now was hurting another beloved person.

"I'm only very tired." Kahlan whispered.

"So I guess you actually don't remember that lies and Confessors cannot stay in the same room." She sweetly retorted. The Mother Confessor sighed. Dennee was definitely her sister, with the same exact attitude for inquiring.

"I had a contrast with Richard." The brunette honestly admitted.

"Oh." Dennee added no other words. She didn't know Richard very well and had seen him only twice. The first time was when her son was born and it was thanks to the Seeker's intervention that the baby survived and the young Confessor had the opportunity to live with her child, even if only for few months. The second time was when Dennee was brought back to life to have the chance of taking revenge on that Mord-Sith who murdered her and forced her to kill her son. It turned out that the blonde was Richard's ally, but Dennee didn't trust her at all and had felt relieved by the absence of the red-clad woman from the returning band of the heroes of the Midlands. Anyway Richard had made Dennee an excellent impression; he was the Seeker after all and if her sister fell in love with him, he was surely a worthy man.

"He deeply disappointed me and now I feel distant from him." Kahlan explained with sorrow in her tone.

"Did you talk with him about this?"

"Yes… No… I mean… He knows what I think, but we both are standing on our position."

"I would expect nothing less from you sister." The younger woman tried to make her smile. "And if you chose him as a lover, he must certainly be someone able to handle you standing your ground."

"Yes he is." Kahlan softly laughed; Dennee gently insisted:

"Do you want to tell me what did he do to disappoint you so much?" Kahlan waited a moment; since it was clear that she couldn't lie, the older sister opted for a sincere answer.

"No Dennee I don't want to. One day I'll tell you, but not today. I… need time."

"All right Kahlan, don't worry." And the honey brown haired sister leaned to kiss her cheek, smiling softly.

"I missed you so much Dennee." How much she felt it… She had missed the person with whom she felt free of telling everything without the fear of being judged and with whom she equally felt free of choosing silence, without the fear of offending her. This was unconditional love.

"I missed you too Kahlan." Dennee lingered, hugging her then she reprised rinsing Kahlan's head.

"When the news of the closing of the rift reached Aydindril I almost exploded in joy; I was looking so much forward to your coming back. We were expecting you weeks ago; it took you a little longer to arrive."

"We had some inconvenience…" Kahlan's voice slightly trembled and Dennee immediately perceived it.

"Something went wrong?"

Kahlan swallowed hard, hesitant about what to say to her sister. "We were attacked. Darken Rahl is still alive and it seems he's busying himself with new dark plans."

Dennee suddenly halted her motions on Kahlan's hair.

"Some rumors about Rahl's return arrived up to here. I hoped those were only conjecture put about from some fool nostalgic detractor, but some soldiers swore they saw Darken in person riding with squads of D'Harian soldiers and saw troops of Mord-Sith marching from their Temples." Hints of angst appeared in the younger Confessor's voice.

Kahlan knew her sister still had difficulties at dealing with the thought of the Sisters of the Agiel, who chased, tortured and killed all the Confessors in Valeria. Cara was leading that attack… Kahlan shut her eyes for a moment, suppressing the tears which constantly threatened to fall when she recalled the blonde in red leathers. She felt her insides knotting by the effort of reconciling her nostalgia for Cara and the horror in her little sister's experiences.

Kahlan heard Dennee sighing behind her and immediately her instinct to protect her little sister rose in her; she turned to the younger woman, staring at her eyes.

"We have beaten him twice, we can do it a third time."

Dennee blinked repeatedly, a gesture she always had since the day she was born, when she was moved in one way or the other. A new rush of protectiveness toward her sweet little sister ran over Kahlan. The brunette hugged her, feeling once again happy and nearly incredulous she had Dennee unexpectedly back close to her.

That night Kahlan asked Dennee to remain with her a little longer; lying in the bed they talked the very many words needed to tell each other what happened in their lives during the period they were apart. There was a pure and absolute bliss in enjoying the pleasure of each other's company, talking and smiling and laughing like little girls who hadn't any other problem, over the next morning early awakening. It was the most natural thing in the world: to stay with family and share simple things like chatting in bed. But Kahlan and Dennee had rarely profited of this privilege and they had thought they could no longer savor such a joy; now it was offered them once again and this made it even more precious.

The sleep caught them still laid in the sumptuous bed of the Mother Confessor's private chambers, smiling, with their hands interlaced and facing at each other.

* * *

The celebrations for the Seeker's victory began since the early morning and continued all night long: it was a never ending ensue of banquets - where the best food, wines and ales the Midlands could offer were dished out - ceremonies, presentation of greetings and delivery of gifts from the whole aristocracy, exhibitions, tournament, dances, fireworks and whatever else should never miss in a flawless party.

Late in the night Richard found the courage to step toward Kahlan; he had barely seen her during the whole day and he suspected that it wasn't only due to the crowd bathing both them if their reunion was prevented. He tentatively asked her to dance with his sweet puppy dog eyes and a shy wary hand stretched to her.

She was confused regarding him: the sadness for what happened in the forest was always there in her chest, but somehow spending two days without his constant presence reminding her grudge, the happiness for being again at home with Dennee and, maybe, four or five glasses of wine more than what she was used to deal with, made her accept the request without arguing. She held his hand and he released a breath, spreading his arms and inviting her to enter in his personal space.

She stepped toward him and he folded her in his strong arms; she leaned her head on his shoulder and felt like coming back to a place where she belonged and where she knew she had been greatly missed. He began to slowly move, smoothly swaying on the rhythm of the music floating over them. She deeply inhaled and perceived a delicate scent of musk coming from him, instead of the usual trace of grass, horses and sweat.

"Did you like the Royal Bathroom?" She asked faintly smiling.

"Wow that was the greatest bathroom I've ever seen! How many Confessors can bathe in there? It must have been tremendous for you to pass from that to open air ponds, or rusty tubes in questionable inns."

She released a sincere small laugh, while he chuckled savoring the joy of the lovely sound she was emitting.

Kahlan looked at his face and involuntary found herself wandering between his warm smile, his sweet true eyes, the strong corner of his well shaved jaw and the wide smooth forehead behind which she could always read his mind as easily as an opened book. Even now she perfectly knew what he was thinking. Words slipped out from her mouth without her even noticing.

"I missed you too."

Despite Kahlan certainty, this wasn't exactly what he was thinking and the words he was longing to hear were slightly different; words he hadn't heard from her since the day he took that hard choice about Cara. He needed those words, but Kahlan seemed unwilling to let them past her lips. Thus he tried to obtain the same result with the facts and slowly lowered to kiss her, but she gently held him with her hands.

"I missed you Richard, but… I need a little more time."

He nodded and his look dropped to the floor; he restarted the motion at the same pace of the music softly swimming through the room, with a keen sore coming from his chest.

A sudden hustle made all the heads turn to the oak door, which slammed open, revealing a squad of D'Harian soldiers behind it, getting their way through the Home Guard to enter. Gasps were heard all over the wide ballroom, but before anyone could blink an eye, the leader of the squad claimed his intention with loud and steeled voice.

"I am General Cassander of the D'Harian Army. My men and I are here to swear our loyalty to the new Master of D'Hara Lord Richard Rahl, and put our lives at his service."

After saying this, he dropped on his knees putting his sheathed sword on the floor, followed by his men, all of them proclaiming in chorus their devotions.

.

**A/N**  
**i'll try to update soon guys; i don't want to leave you hanging more than necessary, but cannot promise anything.**


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